SRG will not be subject to the Swiss Federal Audit Office
Published: Tuesday, Sep 24th 2024, 13:00
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The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation will not be subject to supervision by the Swiss Federal Audit Office in future either. The Council of States has rejected a request to this effect. The matter is therefore closed.
In March, the National Council approved a parliamentary initiative by former Ticino National Councillor Marco Romano. On Tuesday, the Council of States followed the lead of its Committee for Transport and Telecommunications (KVF-S), which had requested rejection. The decision was made by 25 votes to 19.
The current "very comprehensive" control mechanisms for SRG are sufficient, said Commission spokesperson Stefan Engler (center/GR). In addition to the usual internal financial audits and the external audit, SRG is audited by both the Federal Office of Communications (Bakom) and the responsible department Uvek.
In the view of the Commission majority, an additional review body would not bring any added value, but would simply lead to an increase in bureaucracy. In addition, the step could jeopardize the constitutionally guaranteed programme autonomy, said Engler. "There is a potential risk to the independence of SRG."
A minority led by Thierry Burkart (FDP/AG), on the other hand, wanted to follow the National Council. The proponents argued that an audit by the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) made sense due to the volume of fees paid out to SRG each year.
In the text of the initiative, Romano wrote that the SFAO, as an independent body, would be able to carry out risk-based and management-related financial audits at SRG. He did not see any danger to program autonomy. The SFAO would also audit other authorities without jeopardizing their independence.
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