Elections

Traditionally, in Luxembourg, political parties and groups of candidates (hereinafter referred to as “the parties”) benefit, during elections as well as outside election periods, from free airtime in the media entrusted with a public service mission.

The law of July 22, 2022 amending the amended law of July 27, 1991 on electronic media assigns two new missions to ALIA:

1. OUTSIDE ELECTION PERIODS
   The organisation of political information programmes called “free forums” reserved for parties, broadcast by the media entrusted with a public service mission outside of any election campaign.
2. DURING ELECTION PERIODS
   The organisation of media electoral campaigns disseminated through the media entrusted with a public service mission in the context of municipal, legislative and European elections.

Outside election periods, free airtime is made available to parties.

Currently, this airtime takes the form of political information programmes, called “free forums” (tribunes libres), broadcast on Mondays, shortly after 13:00 p.m., on RTL Radio Lëtzebuerg and rebroadcast on Wednesdays at 12:50 p.m. on Radio 100.7.

ALIA develops guiding principles for the allocation of airtime time between the different parties. Currently, the airtime allocated to each party is recalculated, after each legislative election, on the basis of the seats obtained in the Chamber of Deputies.

Parties presenting one or more lists as part of a municipal, legislative or European election, and meeting a certain number of defined criteria as to their political representativeness, have free airtime in the public service media (namely, RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg, RTL Radio Lëtzebuerg and Radio 100.7) for the duration of the official media campaign.

Prior to each municipal, legislative or European election, ALIA develops guiding principles, determining the access conditions for the parties to political information programmes and election spots in the context of the media election campaign. These guiding principles are developed in collaboration with the parties and the audio-visual and audio media entrusted with a public service mission.

The provisions defined in the guiding principles relate in particular to

• the duration of the media campaign
• the access conditions to the various political information programmes
• the allocation of airtime granted to the parties
• the technical standards
• the accessibility for people with disabilities to the media campaign and
• the language criteria to be complied with for the production of election spots.

The ALIA Board of Directors publishes a report on the implementation of each media election campaign.

• Amended Law of 27 July 1991 on Electronic Media, consolidated version of 12 August 2022