On 11 March 2004, the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that the French ’Loi Evin’ restricting advertising of alcohol is in accordance with EU rules.
The opinion in C-262/02 Commission v France, and C-429/02 Bacardi v. France dealt with whether the French law pased the ’proportionality test’ — eg; whether it does beyond the minimum necessary to achieve the desired objectives.
Bacardi, whose legal bid was filed at the European Court of Justice by French courts, specifically challenges article 8 of the French ‘Code de debits de boissons’ from 1991 which bans direct or indirect televised advertising of alcohol at sporting occasions aimed at French viewers.
The law asks broadcasters to ‘pan away’ from alcoholic advertising, such as on billboards and screens, to prevent them from appearing on TV, in a bid to boost public health protection.
Discussions between Brussels and the Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel (CSA), the body regulating the advertising of alcohol in France, failed to bring about a resolution to the dispute- even though the CSA negotiated with French broadcasters to amend the law based on a distinction between ‘multi-lateral’ international events that could be transmitted and ‘bi-national’ ones where restrictions apply.
The Advocate General concluded that
“the French legislation under examination does not go beyond what is necessary in order to attain the objective of protecting public health which it pursues”
and
“the French legislation under examination is appropriate for attaining the objective of protecting public health that it pursues”.
The case makes reference to the EU Directives banning advertising of tobacco and highlights the right of governments to restrict the free movement of services on the grounds of protecting public health.
The ECJ will issue a court ruling in the next 3 months, but in 8 cases out of 10 ECJ decisions reflect the opinion of the advocate general.
Read the ECJ press releases and the Advocate General’s Opinion.
