Reading in the Tuileries. Image – Getty: Bruno Giuliani
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
‘A Halving of the Budgets Allocated’
For months, there has been a concern among many in France about economic pressure on the nation’s Pass Culture—the nation’s program of funds allocated to late teens to spend on cultural products, events, and services.
This evening (February 28), a message of new concern has been sent to various news media from the Paris offices of the French publishers’ association, the Syndicat national de l’édition.
The association’s leadership is expressing its alarm at what is described as a “halving of the budgets allocated” to each recipient, apparently by raising the age at which teens become eligible for the voucher’s funding.
The publishers’ statement reads, in part, “The national publishers association takes note of the [government’s] budgetary measures and is concerned about their impact on young people’s reading. The association regrets to learn of these measures.”
The statement asserts that any decision about the voucher’s funding at this point is premature because a study was launched by the ministry of culture on November 8, precisely to estimate what kind of impact could be expected on the book sector and reading from just such a cutback.
The French publishers association says it “deplores the fact that young people aged 15 and 16 are now excluded” from the ‘Pass Culture,’ even though this age group presents “the most alarming risks of dropping out of reading.”
No results of that study, however, have been submitted yet.
The publishers maintain that the budget cuts to the voucher work against the “essential principal of freedom of choice for beneficiaries.” They write that they “deplore the fact that young people aged 15 and 16 are now excluded” from the program, even though this age group is specifically identified in a recent study by the National Book Centre “as presenting the most alarming risks of dropping out of reading practices.”
The publishers’ association reports that it “also fears that this measure will weaken the book chain, and in particular its most vulnerable players among authors, publishers, and booksellers.”
Background on Funding and the ‘Pass Culture’
On December 2, our report—France’s Publishers, Booksellers, Writers Back the ‘Culture Pass’—reflected that the publishers’ association had joined those of the bookselling sector and the writers’ corps to warn that the culture voucher is “a pocket of freedom,” at risk for being considerably reduced, “first by drastic cuts in the overall budget of the culture pass, but also by a ‘forced redirection’ of part of the voucher’s funding toward other cultural sectors.”
Related article: France’s Publishers, Booksellers, Writers Back the ‘Culture Pass.’ Image – Getty: KDB Media
Ultimately, they wrote, this would mean that young people simply wouldn’t be able to make full use of the grant they’d anticipated.
And then on February 7, an article in Le Monde described expected challenges to culture in the nation’s budget, delayed by two months.
Le Monde’s William Audureau and several associates wrote, “The budget for culture, which has been cut by €150 million (US$155.4 million), is still set to stand at just over €4 billion (US$4.1 billion). … The ‘Culture Pass,’ a program to help young people access cultural events and products, has seen its budget drop from €97 million to €72 (US$100.5 million to $74.6 million).”
As you’ll remember, Italy’s book publishing industry was the first to establish its “18App,” which provided a student turning 18 with €500 (US$528) to be spent on music, museums, books, and other cultural expenditures.
The French edition of this, a promise made by Emmanuel Macron and introduced in 2021, carried a value of €300 originally.
Related article: Germany’s KulturPass Is Renewed, But With a Funding Cut. Image – Getty: Wiiliam87
In Germany, the KulturePass took a 50-percent cut in 2024, from €200 to €100 per student.
That occurred after the Italian 18App already had been weakened by serious structural changes under the Giorgia Meloni administration despite the fact that the Association of Italian Publishers (Associazione Italiana Editori, AIE) had reported in 2021 that 18-year-olds spent 80 percent of their allocations on print books.
The Meloni move was seen to be a money-saving effort, the AIE announcing, “Available data shows that the Carta Cultura and the Carta del Merito, “which replaced the 18app, “have had a response among young people lower than expected, so much so that registered young people have only committed half of the allocated funds, equal to €190 million [US$211.1 million].”
Related article: Mauri School: Italy’s Book Trade Down 23.2 Million Units in 2024. Image: Publishing Perspectives, Porter Anderson
And by January 31, during the 42nd invitational Scuola per Librai Umberto e Elisabetta Mauri seated in Venice, Innocenzo Cipolletta, president of the Association of Italian Publishers, reported at the Fondazione Cini that Italy’s publishing houses have seen a remarkable 23.2 million unit sales evaporate as the Meloni government’s profound changes shrink the power of the “18App” to support the nation’s cultural community.
While the French statement tonight does not appear to “throw in the towel” and give up on resisting the French budget’s incursion into the Pass Culture‘s value, it appears that the success of several European markets’ efforts to succeed with culture vouchers for young citizens requires a readiness to defending these programs when budget officials see their funds as low-hanging fruit for cuts.
More from Publishing Perspectives on the French market and news from its publishers’ association is here, more on Italy’s 18App program of cultural subsidy for young adults and its changed state is here. More on the broader culture pass issue and controversies is here, and more on the book publishing industry in Europe is here.
About the Author
