Jospin Exhumes French Tv Bill

France's Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin decided late Wednesday to move forward with a controversial TV broadcasting bill that was withdrawn last month, said culture minister Catherine Trautmann.

The decision came after Jospin met with Trautmann -- the original bill's author -- finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn and budget minister Christian Sautter to discuss whether the bill should be redrafted or scrapped altogether.

"The meeting went very well. The objective of the broadcasting reform is maintained and we are working to meet the conditions to succeed in those objectives outlined by the prime minister," said Trautmann when she emerged from the meeting.

If the controversial proposal becomes law, it would cut advertising time on state channels from 12 minutes per hour to five, which critics of the bill have said would provide a huge revenue windfall for the commercial networks.

A study is underway to examine possible measures to make up for the drop in revenue the pubcasters would suffer.

The government is known to be against a hike in the TV tax, which is seen as politically unpopular.

The original draft of the bill also envisaged grouping all four French pubcasters -- France 2, France 3, La Sept/Arte and RFO -- under one holding company. Trautmann maintained that this element would also stay in the bill.

In an interview in Le Monde, Jospin said he wanted the bill to lead to "a strong public broadcasting sector, with its mission more clearly defined, better structured and free from the constraints of advertising."

But Trautmann added that she wished to broaden the bill's scope to include several measures that "are essential for the correct functioning of public and private companies."

No one was available at the prime minister's office to comment further on the future shape of the legislation and how it might affect commercial channels.

Trautmann confirmed that the planned reduction in advertising time on France's public channels will still be part of the bill.

The broadcasting reform bill, on which Trautmann has spent 19 months, has been controversial from the outset. The minister initially wanted to tackle changes for commercial and public television in one text, but was forced to put off dealing with private channels to a promised subsequent bill.

The bill was withdrawn in early December when it became clear that it might not gain the full support of the ruling Socialist-Communist-Green majority in Parliament.

Trautmann gave no specific timetable for when the bill might go before parliament, but said she hoped the reforms would become law before the end of 1999. France is under pressure from the European Commission to overhaul its broadcasting sector to comply with EC directives on television regulation.