French senators approved controversial government legislation abolishing the country’s 89-year-old TV license fee in the early hours of Tuesday morning after a two-hour late-night debate.
The 348-member upper house, in which centre-right affiliated members hold the majority, voted in favor of the legislation 196 votes to 147.
The fee, currently set at 138 euros ($141) a year, generated €3.2b in 2022 and provides the lion’s share of funding for France Télévisions, Radio France, Franco-German broadcaster Arte and international TV channels France 24 and RFI.
Under the legislation, the 23 million French households owning TV sets that currently pay the fee will not be billed this fall.
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