European elections: Arcom will check the timing of Macron’s speech after his speech at the Sorbonne

Does the president’s word also matter for the Renaissance in the midst of the European campaign? Audiovisual regulator Arcom will have to look into the matter. From next week, the department will study the topic of Emmanuel Macron’s speech after his speech on Europe on Thursday at the Sorbonne, we learned on Friday.

The head of state returned to this topic on Friday in front of reporters in Strasbourg: “Yesterday there was a word from the President of the Republic. After that, others decide the rules, and that’s very good and independent.”

“But I think we shouldn’t be hypocritical on this issue. We must take responsibility for the policies we are pursuing, for the role that France has played in recent years and for the fact that I have put Europe at the center of our project,” he added.

Television and radio are due to broadcast on Monday a tally of each camp’s appearances in this European election campaign. “They will be considered and then published after the plenary meeting on the Arkom website,” the department clarified. “In addition, we will consider requests regarding the timing of the speech of the President of the Republic,” added the Arcom representative.

Warnings from PS and Republicans

On Thursday, Republicans asked regulators to deduct the entire speech, which they call a “campaign propaganda operation,” from the Renaissance List’s “speech time.”

In the Public Senate on Friday, the head of the PS, Olivier Faure, also announced his intention to request Arcom: “It is curious that the head of state at this moment in the speech speaks, mobilizes the television channels, does it as if he were the head of his list, but was not excluded. He touched on “the topic of inequality between candidates.”

The TV channels themselves were asking questions of themselves, and some, like BFMTV, were questioning the regulator. “We are waiting for Arkom’s decision,” the channel told us.

From April 15, as before every election, television and radio stations are obliged to observe the principle of fairness in relation to political forces until the vote on June 9.

Arkom did not give any specific instructions regarding this speech. The rules provide that speeches by the President of the Republic that “are part of political debates related to elections, in particular those that include an expression of support for a candidate or list of candidates, a party or a political group, are subject to a separate statement” of the channels compared to his other speeches, not related to elections.

Channels “take this into account, ensuring that other candidates, lists, parties or political groups in turn benefit from fair access to airtime.”