YLE financing at impasse

Sharp divisions in Parliament over public broadcasting

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The question of how to finance the activities of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE), Finland’s public service broadcaster, was completely bogged down in Parliament on Thursday.
      Leaders of the Parliamentary party groups tried to work on an agreement on models of YLE financing and administration, but to no avail.
      Centre Party Parliamentary group leader Timo Kalli, who convened the meeting, noted that there had been no answers to issues that remain open, and that the matter would be taken up again on Tuesday. Kalli said that the aim was to secure YLE financing during this Parliamentary term.
     
In a somewhat unusual move, Kalli had harsh criticism for a government minister of another major government party - Minister of Communications Suvi Lindén (Nat. Coalition Party). Kalli said that Linden’s recent actions had made finding a solution more difficult.
      Lindén has come out strongly in favour of financing YLE operations directly from the national budget - a move that the opposition Social Democratic Party unexpectedly endorsed on Thursday.
      The rest of the government has not supported Lindén’s idea, and she has not been backed in her views by the National Coalition Party Chairman, Minister of Finance Jyrki Katainen.
     
The administrative model for YLE also divides the parties.
      The Social Democrats said on Thursday that they hold on to the idea that YLE does not need an independent public service council in addition to the current supervisors. The SDP was supported in its view by Parliamentarians of another opposition party, the Left Alliance.
     
For nearly a year Lindén has been working on a bill for the future financing and administration of YLE. The basis of the preparations has been a unanimous proposal by a working group leaded by Centre Party MP
Mika Lintilä, calling for a special YLE fee that would be paid by all Finns, not just by households owning a television set, who now pay a television fee.
      The government has said that if a new fee is implemented, an independent council should be set up to supervise YLE, to make sure that the mandatory fee does not cause YLE to spread out in its activities to do things that do not fall within the framework of public service.
     
At Parliamentary question time on Thursday, Kimmo Sasi (Nat. Coalition Party), the chairman of YLE’s current Administrative Council, accused the Social Democrats of playing political games. He noted that last week the party was still in favour of a separate YLE fee.
      “The best alternative is budget financing. A precondition for that is an arrangement covering several years, for instance six years, during which time the level of financing would be agreed upon. If we talk about a YLE fee, then a precondition for that would be social compensation. No such model has been put forward to us, so we feel that budget financing is better”, said Eero Heinäluoma, chairman of the Parliamentary group of the Social Democratic Party.
      YLE needs about EUR 480 million a year for its activities.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Linden backs down on YLE fee (12.3.2010)
  Proposed cost-cutting measures would decrease supply of YLE programmes (11.9.2009)
  Survey: Finns do not regard proposed YLE media fee as justified (19.8.2009)

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