2023-12-06 04:10:55
On Wednesday, the kern will look once more at the press concession. Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter (Groen) will propose granting aid only to distribution companies or publishers serving sparsely populated areas.
The clock is ticking, but we still do not know what the De Croo government wants to do with the press concession which saw the loss, by bpost, of the written media distribution market to the benefit of the PPP group for newspapers and French Proximy for magazines.
On Wednesday, the restricted council of ministers (kern) will look once more at all avenues. For the Socialist Party, the option of not awarding the market, which the Flemish liberals advocate, can only be retained if the government offers another form of aid to the press. For French-speaking publishers in particular, this distribution support is of great importance.
“If the press concession disappears, people in rural areas will have to pay more for newspapers or magazines delivered to their homes.”
Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter (Groen) intends to respond by proposing not make newspaper distribution more expensive in rural areas. “We want to prevent readers in rural areas from canceling their subscription because it would have become more expensive than in the city,” explains its spokesperson. “If the press concession disappears, people in rural areas will have to pay more for newspapers or magazines delivered to their homes. Because that’s how the market works. Newspaper delivery people have to travel longer distances, which is reflected in the price.”
A proposal likely to satisfy the socialists
According to Petra De Sutter’s proposal, companies that deliver or publish newspapers and magazines would benefit from additional aid if they operate in rural areas. “This would be targeted aid. Only projects from companies that deliver newspapers and weeklies to sparsely populated areas would be eligible.”
“The places where people don’t have booksellers near their homes, I don’t want to forget them,” explains the environmental minister. “I don’t want people to turn away from our print media because it costs more to receive it at home.”
Groen is thus offering a new concession limited to rural areas neglected by the market. This proposal is likely to satisfy the Socialist Partyeven if the latter is also open to other solutions, such as a tax deduction for readers, a reading voucher for paper and digital or a reduction in corporate tax for publishers.
The question is whether the fact of not awarding the press concession to PPP, even though it won the contract, will hold up legally. Another unknown: how to avoid the cessation of newspaper distribution on January 1 since, if the press concession is not awarded to PPP or bpost, it will be difficult to agree a transition period with the latter.
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