By: C. R.
The Ministry of Culture has prepared a decree for a 10% increase in the RTV contribution and has sent it for interdepartmental coordination. The government is expected to adopt the decree by the end of the month, which would increase the RTV contribution to €14.02 per month per household starting next year. RTV Slovenia has not commented on the proposal, but the Slovenian Journalists’ Association has welcomed it.
The government will adopt the decree on a 10% increase in the RTV contribution by the end of the month, the Ministry of Culture confirmed to STA.
The amount of the contribution is determined by the Act on Radio-Television Slovenia (RTVS). The government can change the contribution amount by up to 10% if there are justified economic reasons, but no later than September 1st of the current year for the following year, according to the law. Therefore, the government has until the end of August to adopt the decree for the change to take effect in 2025.
The Ministry of Culture explained to STA that the current contribution rate has been in place since 2012 and has not increased since then. However, during this period, all costs of the public institution have risen, including employee salaries, material, and programming expenses. As a result, the RTV contribution is expected to increase from the current €12.75 to €14.02 per month per household starting in 2025. The contribution amount must be rounded to two decimal places, the ministry added.
“With the amount of funds currently collected from the contribution, it is no longer possible to ensure the normal operation of our most important media and cultural public institution, which as part of its public service encompasses the creation, preparation, archiving, and broadcasting of several television and radio programmes, as well as digital content, including for the indigenous Italian and Hungarian national communities and the Roma ethnic community. It also includes comprehensive information, archiving, and artistic production,” the ministry stated.
They emphasised that without sufficient funds, RTVS cannot fulfil its role in the free formation of public opinion and ensuring the realisation of the constitutional right to public information.
“Freedom of expression from the first paragraph of Article 39 of the Constitution requires the state to adopt appropriate regulations to ensure that public media can independently carry out their functions in the free formation of public opinion. Therefore, the legislator must ensure the programmatic, organisational, and financial independence of public media through appropriate legislation. This is especially true for those public media (specifically RTVS) established by the state, whose main purpose is to ensure the realisation of citizens’ constitutional right to public information,” they added.
The Ministry of Culture is also preparing some amendments to the RTVS Act. According to their announcements, the proposal will “soon be in public consultation”.
RTVS has declined to comment on the matter.