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Subject: Do not support abolishing the licence fees for ČT and ČRo without guarantees of independence

Dear Mr/Ms [surname], I am a citizen from [town] and I am writing to you about the bill to abolish the licence fees for Czech Television and Czech Radio. I am asking you not to support it in its current form. I have three reasons. 1. There are no safeguards for independence. Moving the funding to the state budget could make public service media more dependent on political decisions. Yet the European Media Freedom Act (Article 5(3)) requires “adequate, sustainable and predictable financial resources”. 2. This is underfunding, not stabilisation. Czech Television is to receive CZK 5.74 billion in 2027 (this year it expects to collect CZK 6.73 billion from licence fees), and Czech Radio CZK 2.065 billion instead of CZK 2.48 billion. Together that is roughly 15% less, and the management of both ČT and ČRo expect hundreds of job cuts. 3. The bill is being rushed through. The coalition forced through a priority debate and cut speaking time; 65 MPs who had signed up to speak never got the floor, and the vote took place on Saturday at 4:36am. The European Broadcasting Union and the European Federation of Journalists urged MPs not to act in haste and without public debate. I am asking you to: • not support abolishing the licence fees until the law guarantees independent, stable and predictable funding for ČT and ČRo, • insist on a public expert debate before the next reading (the media committee returns to the bill on 10 December), • let me know where you stand on the bill. Thank you. Yours sincerely, [name and surname, town]