Report advocating cuts to public broadcasting generates rejection and controversy in France

Paris, May 5 (EFE/EPA).- A report published this Tuesday on the French public audiovisual sector, prepared by a far-right deputy and advocating deep reforms and budget cuts, sparked controversy and was rejected by the group's management, the French government and the country's center and left-wing forces.

CAMERA: CHRISTOPHE PETIT-TESSON

STATEMENTS BY CHARLES ALLONCLE, FROM THE UNION OF THE RIGHT FOR THE REPUBLIC PARTY, IN PARIS (FRANCE):

I would first like to tell them that if there hadn't been such intense interest, particularly in discovering this report, we could understand their reaction, but that's not the case. I would also like to tell them that, even before the report was released, even before these recommendations were made public, many things had already changed. Prime Minister Lecornu, a few weeks before the end of this inquiry, called on France Télévisions to make new efforts in budget optimization. We also saw France Télévisions management adopt a more transparent approach to executive compensation. We saw France Télévisions management, on the sidelines of and leading up to the opening of the Cannes Film Festival, explain that a number of extravagant expenses would be curbed. We saw all of this. I think we should be pleased about it. We must also commend and congratulate the heads of public broadcasting, Sybille Veil and Delphine Ernotte, who, in a way, submitted to the sometimes demanding questions they were asked and who, even before the report was published, had already initiated a number of reforms. This was the whole point of this commission of inquiry, regardless of the criticisms that may have been raised, and regardless of the opposition from left-wing and Macronist members of parliament.