For daily political newspapers the quota looks not at employee numbers but at the total surface area of the pages. Art. 19/2 of the Press Card Regulation sets the tiers one by one.
The Quota Table
| Total surface area | Newspaper | Quota |
|---|---|---|
| More than 1.20 m² | All | No quota limit for staff in domestic bureaux |
| 0.80 - 1.19 m² | Local | Owner or representative of the legal person + 8 employees |
| 0.60 - 0.79 m² | Local | Owner or representative of the legal person + 3 employees |
| 0.40 - 0.59 m² | Local | Owner or representative of the legal person + 1 employee |
| 0.39 m² or less | Local | No application accepted |
| 1.19 m² or less | National and regional | No application accepted |
Foreign Bureaux
| Newspaper | Foreign bureau quota |
|---|---|
| National and regional (more than 1.20 m²) | No limit |
| Local (more than 1.20 m²) | At most 25% of the staff |
| Surface area of 1.19 m² or less | No cards issued |
An Example
A local newspaper with pages of 0.32 m² publishing 3 pages has a total surface area of 0.96 m². That falls in the 0.80-1.19 m² band: the owner or representative of the legal person plus eight employees can get cards.
If the same newspaper drops to 2 pages, the total becomes 0.64 m² and the quota falls to three employees. Cutting pages means losing quota directly.
Non-Political Daily Newspapers Are Separate
Art. 21 sets a separate table for non-political newspapers and magazines. For non-political daily newspapers:
| Total surface area | Quota |
|---|---|
| 1.20 m² or more | Owner or representative + 25 employees |
| 0.80 - 1.19 m² | Owner or representative + 4 employees |
| 0.60 - 0.79 m² | Owner or representative + 1 employee |
| 0.59 m² or less | No application accepted |
Under this table no cards are issued to staff in foreign bureaux.
The Publication Type Comes from the Declaration
Which table you fall under is determined by the type of publication in the declaration you filed under Law No. 5187. Art. 15/1-b requires the type chosen in the declaration to conform to the definition in the Regulation.
Summary
- Above 1.20 m² there is no quota limit for domestic bureaux of daily political newspapers.
- For local newspapers the quota is 8 employees at 0.80-1.19 m², 3 at 0.60-0.79 m² and 1 at 0.40-0.59 m².
- No application is accepted below 0.39 m² locally, or below 1.19 m² nationally and regionally.