4 December Health Council

Date: 11/12/1997

THE meeting was dominated by a long and difficult debate over the proposed ban on tobacco advertising, which resulted in a compromise agreement with a longer transitional period than originally envisaged by the European Commission. Health ministers eventually adopted a common position on the phasing in of restrictions on advertising and sponsorship over an eight-year period, although Germany and Austria voted against and Spain and Denmark abstained.

UNDER the deal, all forms of advertising and sponsorship by tobacco firms will be banned with certain exceptions and derogations. Tobacco trade publications, advertising at point of sale and third country publications sold in the EU will be excluded from the ban. There will be a three-year period for transposition into national law, with a further one-year transition for phasing out advertising in the printed media and two years for eliminating sponsorship. An additional three years may be allowed for existing sponsorship of events and activities organised at “world level”, on condition that the sponsorship money decreases during the transitional period and voluntary agreements are put in place to reduce the impact of tobacco advertising at such events. All transitional periods will end on 1 October 2006.

EU NATIONAL governments will be allowed to maintain or introduce more stringent measures on public health grounds. Health Commissioner Pádraig Flynn said afterwards that the agreement was a breakthrough. “The tobacco industry is finally waking up to the reality that the member states are of the view that it is not acceptable to allow their product to be advertised,” he added.

MINISTERS reached agreement on the rare diseases action programme which will run from 1999-2003 and receive 6.5 million ecu in EU funding. The programme has been identified as a priority area for Union actions and aims to coordinate national measures, improve the diffusion of information and promote cross-border cooperation between health professionals.