The Czech government’s plans to abolish television and radio licence fees and transfer the funding of public service broadcasters directly to the state budget threaten their independence and open the door to political interference. Veronika Vrecionová, Member of the European Parliament for the ECR Group, warned during a plenary debate on media freedom and the rule of law in the Czech Republic that the proposed changes are not about saving public money, but about bringing Czech Television and Czech Radio under government control.

Speaking during a plenary debate in the European Parliament, Vrecionová criticised the government of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš for seeking to replace the current funding model with direct state financing while cutting the broadcasters’ budgets by more than 1 billion CZK.

“Public service media cannot be independent if the government can decide how much money they receive. By transferring their funding directly to the state budget, the government is putting Czech Television and Czech Radio under constant financial pressure. This is not a reform. It is an attempt to gain political control over the media,” Vrecionová said.

Vrecionová stressed that other European countries which finance public service media through different models have strong institutional safeguards protecting editorial independence. The Czech proposal, however, contains no comparable guarantees and would allow the government to change broadcasters’ budgets by a simple parliamentary majority.

“The government claims it has no intention of interfering with editorial content. But we should judge it by its actions, not its promises. When Andrej Babiš entered politics and acquired two of the country’s most influential newspapers, criticism of him virtually disappeared from their pages. We have every reason to be concerned about what could happen to public service media,” she added.

Vrecionová also criticised the way the government pushed the legislation through its first reading in the Czech Parliament. According to her, the government failed to consult experts, the opposition or civil society, cut short parliamentary debate while dozens of MPs were still waiting to speak, and held the vote at 4:36 am on Saturday morning.

“Independent media are one of the foundations of democracy. Any government that tries to weaken them, silence criticism and push through legislation without proper debate is putting democratic institutions at risk. Such methods have no place in a democratic European country,” Vrecionová said.