AFP chief executive Pierre Louette proposed transforming the international news agency into a public company with state-controlled capital.
AFP chief executive Pierre Louette proposed transforming the international news agency into a public company with state-controlled capital.
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In a report delivered to the French government yesterday, Louette also suggested the new company be placed under the supervision of a foundation that would guarantee its editorial independence.
The government had asked Louette to put forward by March 31 proposals to "modernise" the news service's statutes, which were established in a 1957 law guaranteeing its independence.
"AFP can become one of the leaders of news in the digital age if it benefits from financing for development which only capitalisation and the support of shareholders can bring, because we can no longer call on the state for help" to finance new projects, Louette said.
The 1957 legislation gave AFP a unique status. It has no capital or shareholders, cannot run up a loss and is run by a board made up mostly of its main French clients.
The statutes also stipulate that AFP may "under no circumstances" pass under the legal or actual control of an ideological, political or economic group.
Louette said it was crucial to "rethink the means of financing the agency in the context of the digital revolution and the dramatic changes in business models and in the way people get their news, 52 years after the 1957 statute was enacted."
A new law must be enacted to change AFP's statute.
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