Support for national publications of political and general information with low advertising resources (PFRP)

The aid is reserved for national publications of weekly to quarterly frequency recognised by the Joint Commission on Publications and Press Agencies as being of a political and general information nature.
Eligibility criteria vary slightly depending on the fund’s sections:

*Section 1*

• For weeklies, bimonthlies and monthlies: have a sales price per issue of less than 130% of the average sales price weighted by the annual distribution in France of political and general information titles of the same frequency, the average selling price is calculated from the number selling price on 1 January of the year in which the aid was granted;
• For bimonthly and quarterly: have a single-issue sales price of less than 160% of the average price weighted by the annual distribution in France of political and general information titles of the same frequency, the average selling price is calculated from the number selling price on 1 January of the year in which the aid was granted;
• Have an average paid circulation in France that has not exceeded 300,000 copies in the fiscal year preceding the year of grant;
• Having advertising revenues that accounted for less than 25% of total revenues.

*Section 2*

• Have received support under the 1st Section for at least 3 years;
• For weeklies, bimonthlies and monthlies: have a sales price per issue of less than 130% of the average sales price weighted by the annual distribution in France of political and general information titles of the same frequency;
• For bimonthly and quarterly: have a selling price per issue of less than 160% of the average price weighted by the annual distribution in France of political and general information titles of the same frequency;
• Have an average paid circulation in France that has not exceeded 300,000 copies in the fiscal year preceding the year of grant;
• Have advertising revenues that accounted for less than 35% of total revenues.

No aid may be paid to publications:

• the contents of which resulted in a conviction by the Director of the publication which became final in the five years preceding the application for aid, pursuant to articles 24 or 24 bis the law of 29 July 1881 on press freedom;
• who do not meet the conditions laid down in the first paragraph of Article 30 of Decree No. 55-486 of 30 April 1955*;
• who have received aid to the journals of the National Book Central in the year preceding the year in which the aid was granted;
• which are a selection of articles already published in other titles.

* Article 30, paragraph 1 of Decree 30 April 1955: "Natural or legal persons who apply for grants, grants, loans and guarantees of an economic or social nature provided for by the legislation and regulations in force must show that the situation is in order, both with regard to the bodies responsible for the management of social security services and with regard to the administrations responsible for the collection of taxes and taxes".

It amounts to EUR 4 million, distributed among about 50 beneficiaries.

In 2021, support for national political and general information publications with low advertising resources benefited 50 publications for a total amount of €4,000,000.

The grant takes the form of operating aid. It is awarded annually to each publishing structure on behalf of its publication(s). It’s a one-time payment in the fall of 2023.

The aid fund is divided into two sections. The allocation of appropriations between these sections is made by the Director-General for Media and Cultural Industries. This distribution ensures a degressivity of the aid allocated to each undertaking under Section 2 of the Fund.

A unit grant title shall be determined for the payment of aid under each section of the Fund. This unit rate shall be obtained by dividing the appropriations available under each section by the number of copies actually sold in the year preceding the year in which the aid was granted by all the securities eligible for the section concerned.

For each section of the Fund, the aid allocated to each eligible publication shall be equal to the unit rate of subsidy multiplied by the number of copies actually sold by that publication in the year preceding the year in which the aid was granted. The rate is cut by 50% between 1 and 2 million copies and 100% beyond two million copies.

The amount of aid granted to a publication may not exceed 25% of its total revenue, excluding public subsidies, for the year preceding the year in which the aid was granted.

The amount of aid awarded to a publication may not be less than €1,500.

The amount of aid granted to a publishing undertaking in respect of one or more publications may not exceed 30% of its operating expenses for the year in which the aid was granted. In the event of an overpayment, the deduction shall be deducted from the aid paid to the beneficiary in respect of the following year or, failing that, the corresponding amount shall be recovered by issuing a collection order.

• Opening of the deposit of files: 01 April 2023.
• Deadline for submission of applications: 02 June 2023, at 23:59 (Paris time). No files can be considered after this date.
• Announcement of results: Fall 2023, by mail and email.

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