Uphill battle for EU ban on child adverts

Date: 14/12/00

By Peter Chapman

Although Stockholm has made no secret of its desire to extend its ban on advertising aimed at children, it faces a formidable challenge to win support for the idea.

Culture Commissioner, Viviane Reding has entered the debate, claiming that an Union-wide ban is a non-starter.

Meanwhile, industry lobbyists have been unveiling funded reports by academics attempting to discredit the view that a ban protects children and parents from unscrupulous advertisers.

Sweden, which brought in its ban when commercial TV was launched there ten years ago, argues that it prevents children from falling prey to advertising campaigns and protects their parents from 'pester power'.

In a recent speech, Reding warned that those calling for a EU-wide embargo faced an uphill struggle: "The majority of member states, as well as the Commissioner responsible, are against an outright ban."

Its supporters, she insisted, would have to prove it would boost the Union's single market for TV services - and not fail the same tests as the attempted ban on tobacco advertising recently overturned by the European Court of Justice.

She argued that many children's programmes are paid for by advertising revenue. Without it, TV stations might be forced to import cheap shows from abroad "which are gener-ally of far lower quality than programming made in Europe."

Article forms part of a survey on the Swedish EU Presidency.