The Bichet Act [1] entrusts Arcep with the competence to set the conditions for newsagents’ remuneration, with the aim of achieving broad and balanced coverage of the point of sale (PoS) network. Today, Arcep is issuing a request for comments on the proposals for the revalorisation of newsagents’ remuneration, which have been agreed upon by several publisher unions and newsagent representatives, to enable all interested stakeholders to provide their input before 15 June 2026.
Revalorisation proposals for newsstands, regarding vocational training, press exposure, sales performance and being open seven days a week
After having adopted a Decision on 9 December 2025, setting the terms of newsagents’ remuneration [2][2] which include several revalorisation measures for specialist newsagents, taking into account the negotiations that took place between press publishers’ unions and representatives of these points of sale, Arcep received notice of two proposals for a revalorisation of newsagents’ remuneration, dated 25 February and 31 March 2026:
- a proposal from the Union of magazine publishers (Syndicat des éditeurs de la presse magazine /SEPM), the National federation of specialised news publications (Fédération nationale de la presse d’information spécialisée/FNPS), the Union of newsagents and bookshops of Paris-Île-de-France, (Syndicat des kiosquiers et libraires de Paris-Île-de-France/SKLP), and MédiaKiosk on newsstand sales of non-daily publications;
- a proposal from the General information press alliance (Alliance de la presse d’information Générale/APIG), the SKLP, and MédiaKiosk regarding newsstand sales of daily newspapers and Sunday (7th day) sales.
The SEPM/FNPS/SKLP/Mediakiosk proposal includes an increase in newsstands’ remuneration, “after validation of vocational training every three years,” the introduction of “a supplement tied to press exposure,” and ‘the implementation of a supplement tied to sales revenue” which, according to the proposal, would represent an average increase in newsagents’ remuneration of up to 2.4% of their non-daily publication sales.
The APIG/SKLP/Mediakiosk proposal includes, first, the “implementation of a ‘daily newspaper’ label” for newsstands that are open seven days a week, and whose annual daily newspaper and Sunday (7th day) sales total less than €10,000 and, second, the introduction of a “surperformance” supplement for newsagents with an increase in daily newspaper sales that exceeds the “observed market trend” for all newsstands combined. This measure could represent an average increase in newsagents’ remuneration of up to 1.2% of their daily newspaper and Sunday sales.
Reminder of the previous stages of this work
Arcep’s work on the evolution of newsagents’ remuneration has included:
- a public consultation from June to October 2023,
- an invitation to the sector to begin business negotiations focused in particular on specialist newsagents and newsstand operators in October 2024,
- adoption of technical update measures in March 2025 to reduce the effect of the downwards trend in single-issue sales on newsagents’ rate of remuneration, and to provide newsagents with greater clarity on their remuneration,
- adoption of Decision No. 2025‑2214 of 9 December 2025 setting the remuneration conditions for newsagents, which introduces revalorisations of specialist newsagents’ commission, coming into effect on 1 January 2026, and offering newsagents a consolidated compensation framework.
Associated document:
[1] Law No. 1947‑585 of 2 April 1947 on the status of newspaper and periodical distribution and pooled distribution companies, as amended by Law No. 2019‑1063 of 18 October 2019 on the modernisation of press distribution.