Rai: talk of a licence fee cut resurfaces, with opposition now off the table
An amendment tabled by Forza Italia to the public service reform paves the way for a reduction in the licence fee, whilst providing for compensation from other public funds.
The Rai licence fee may be reduced. The funding for Rai, however, will not. It is around this distinction that a political – and, above all, financial – battle is reigniting in the Senate, one that has accompanied the public service for years.
The issue has been brought back to the table by an amendment to the RAI reform tabled by the rapporteurs Claudio Fazzone and Roberto Rosso, both of Forza Italia. The provision introduces a safety net: should licence fee revenue fall, Rai must receive corresponding public funds so that its funding is not reduced. It is this provision that once again makes it possible to discuss a reduction in the licence fee without simultaneously creating a shortfall in the organisation’s accounts.
Rosso directly links the proposal to the European Media Freedom Act. The amendment, he explains, is ‘fully in line with the provisions of the European EMFA Regulation, which stipulate the stability and predictability of the resources allocated to public service broadcasting’. He adds that ‘in the event of any reduction in licence fee revenue, funding for public service broadcasting should be guaranteed through the transfer of equivalent public resources’.
That is precisely the point. At present, the amount of the licence fee can be adjusted annually by the Government, without any reduction automatically triggering compensation. Following the integration of the licence fee into electricity bills, in 2024 the licence fee was reduced from 90 to 70 euros and Rai received additional funding, but without any automatic mechanism enshrined in law. The new mechanism, on the other hand, aims to transform this compensation into a structural guarantee.
A solution that immediately reignites the debate within the majority. The Lega, which has long made the licence fee cut one of its key causes, claims the initiative and welcomes Forza Italia’s overture: ‘We therefore note with satisfaction that Forza Italia has finally joined the Carroccio in the battle to cut the licence fee’. However, Lega MPs on the Supervisory Committee point out that ‘the licence fee reduction must be real, tangible and sustainable, achieved through greater efficiency at RAI, cost containment and increased revenue, without merely shifting the burden from one pocket to another among the public’.
