A public consultation on the future of Italian public service media (PSM) was held in Rome on 12 April in preparation for renewing RAI's Charter.

As part of a new law to reform RAI's governance in late 2015, the Ministry of Economic Development (MISE) was charged with organising a public consultation (using the model of the BBC’s Royal Charter renewal process) prior to drafting RAI's Charter for 2016-2025.

The EBU was one of the few international organizations attending the initial consultation where 140 stakeholders gathered to discuss the future of PSM in Italy. The EBU made recommendations on several issues, and guidelines on best practice in governance and funding, public service values and editorial standards were adopted by the MISE as milestones documents for the consultation.

An online public consultation is being launched based on questions arising from the stakeholder meeting. The public consultation will form the basis of the new Charter, drafted by the MISE and to be submitted to the President of the Council of Ministers this summer. The final text of the renewed Charter will be submitted to Parliament and discussed in late October.  

The current remit, which was due to expire on 6 May, will be extended by Presidential decree to late October to ensure continuity for RAI pending the adoption of the new Charter.