Brussels, 10/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - A ban imposed by a member state on magazine publishers to announce, offer or give consumers bonuses or entry to competition where prizes can be won with the purchase of a magazine is an infringement of European law.
That is the substance of the ruling delivered by the EU Court of Justice in Case C-540/08 on 9 November. The Court was responding to questions from the Austrian Supreme Court on compliance with European law of the Austrian law which makes it illegal to “announce, offer or give bonuses, free of charge” with periodicals and newspapers, and to announce bonuses, free of charge, with other goods or services, “without it being necessary in any particular case to consider whether such a commercial practice is misleading, aggressive or otherwise unfair”, even where that provision serves not only to protect consumers, but to maintain media diversity or the protection of weaker competitors.
The Court says that such a ban is illegal under European law and, consequently, offering entry to a competition where prizes can be won for purchasing a newspaper is not an illegal trade practice by virtue of the fact that participation in the competition was the main reason for some consumers' buying the newspaper. (F.G./transl.rt)