The Bichet Act[1] stipulates that the consolidated distribution of newspapers and periodicals will be performed by accredited press distribution companies. In accordance with Article 12 of this law, accreditation is contingent upon compliance with a set of contractual requirements, set by decree, based on a proposal from Arcep. These contractual requirements were published on 13 April 2021[2].
Arcep welcomes the adoption of its proposal in its entirety in the requirements[3] set forth in the decree published by the Government.
These contractual requirements are designed, first, to protect readers’ interests to ensure that, in every part of the country, they have broad access to a diverse, high quality press at an affordable price and, second, to stimulate the modernisation of print media distribution.
The decision on the proposed contractual requirements that the Authority submitted to the Minister for Culture was drafted following a public consultation that ran from 9 October to 19 November 2020, which received responses from fifteen industry stakeholders (press distributors, newsagents, publishers, warehousers). Today, Arcep is publishing this decision along with the contributions to the public consultation that it received from those stakeholders.
In accordance with the law, MLP has six months to file an application with Arcep.
Arcep invites France Messagerie, which has temporary accreditation up to 30 June 2021, to file its application as soon as possible.
For more information, interested parties can send their queries to: distribution-presse(@)arcep.fr.
[1] Act. No. 47-585 of 2 April 1947 regarding the status of newspaper and periodical consolidation and distribution companies
[2] Decree No. 2021-440 of 13 April 2021 implementing the contractual requirements for accredited press distribution companies
[3] Stipulated in its Decision No. 2021-0486 of 23 March 2021
Documents associés :
• Stakeholders’ observations on the public consultation held in October/November 2020