Slovenian licence fee survives by narrow margin in preliminary vote
October 13, 2026 11.54 Europe/London By Julian Clover


Slovenian voters have narrowly opposed abolishing the mandatory licence fee funding RTV Slovenija, with preliminary referendum results showing a margin of just 546 votes.

After domestic postal ballots were counted on October 12, 462,299 voters had opposed abolition and 461,753 supported it, according to the Slovenian news agency STA. That represents 50.03% against abolition and 49.97% in favour. Overseas votes are due to be counted on October 19, leaving the outcome provisional.

The October 11 ballot asked whether compulsory payment of the contribution for RTV Slovenija’s programmes should be scrapped. It did not specify how the public broadcaster would be funded if the fee were removed.

The referendum is consultative and does not itself change the law. Parliament would need to pass legislation to abolish the fee, with the existing payment obligation continuing in the meantime.

The full household contribution is €14.02 a month. Licence fee income generated €109.59 million in 2025, accounting for 69.3% of RTV Slovenija’s revenue, underlining the significance of the vote for its television, radio and digital services.

Supporters of abolition argued that households should be relieved of compulsory payments, including those who do not use RTV’s services. Slovenian journalists’ organisations warned that replacing the fee with state-budget funding without adequate safeguards could expose the broadcaster to greater political pressure.

The EBU welcomed the preliminary result, while calling for any funding or governance reforms to protect RTV Slovenija’s editorial independence and financial sustainability.