Explain to us the speaking times for the European elections

The counting of speaking times begins on Monday and will last eight weeks, until the vote on June 9 which should allow the election of 81 French MEPs.

It’sRegulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (Arcom), nicknamed the audiovisual policeman, who will calculate speaking time for the European elections. The count begins Monday April 15 and will last until the day before the vote, scheduled for June 9.

The principle of fairness

For the European elections,The speaking time of a party is counted when its head of list speaks, but also one of its close friends. A rule that applies up to the President of the Republic. If Emmanuel Macron mentions the elections, his speaking time will be deducted from the Renaissance list. Unlike a presidential election where candidates have the right to equal speaking time, for European elections, the principle of fairness applies. It is, in fact, complicated to apply a strict equality with 22 heads of list announced.

The political weight of the candidates

Arcom is based on the results of the last European elections where the National Rally came in first. But not only that, Arcom also relies on opinion polls and depending on the ability to lead the campaign,hence the organization of public meetings, travel and presence on social networks. It is therefore for these reasons that the extreme right will have more time on the air than the PS or France Insoumise.

The media concerned by the count

In total, 17 television channels and 10 radio stations must transmit the speaking time of the candidates and their supporters noted in their programs to Arcom. On the television side, are concerned TF1, France 2, France 3 (for their national program), France 5, Canal+ (for its free-to-air programs)M6, C8, TMC, RMC Discovery, RMC Story, LCI, CNewsBFM TV, franceinfo TV, Euronews, France 24, TV5–World (for its own programs). And on the radio side, France Inter, franceinfo, France Culture, RTL, Europe 1, RMC, BFM Business, Classical Radio, Sud Radio, Radio France Internationale (RFI) which are affected by these counts.

The particular case of CNews

On CNews, Philippe de Villiers’ speaking time will be counted for the various right camp. Because, even if he is not a candidate, the former MEP hosts his own show on the channel. CNews, on the other hand, does not have to balance the speaking time of environmentalists on set,The Greens are boycotting the Bolloré group channel.