EBU condemns “excessive” cuts to Dutch pubcaster

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has urged the Dutch government to slash funding for public broadcaster NPO.

EBU president Jean-Paul Philippot condemned a decision to cut an additional €100 million from NPO’s budget from 2016 on top of a €200 million cut imposed in 2011.

“The Dutch government needs to realise that this proposal is excessive and should be dropped,” said Philippot. “While belt tightening is necessary, cutting €300 million from NPO’s budget – one third of the total – is akin to tightening a noose around its ability to serve the public properly. NPO deserves credit for making radical reforms to absorb the last round of cuts while honouring its commitment to continue producing high quality, multiplatform programming.”

NPO has previously launched a cost-cutting plan, scaling back the number of organizations under its umbrella from 22 to eight by 2015 as the initial €200 million cut takes effect.