Luxembourg, 12/03/2004 (Agence Europe) - First Advocate General Tizzano has delivered his opinion on the compatibility of the French law banning televised advertising of alcoholic drinks with Community law. In a press release, he explains that 'such a prohibition constitutes a restriction on the freedom to provide services which is justified by the objective of protecting public health.' The French legislation on tobacco and alcohol addiction (“the Loi Evin”) prohibits, in France, direct and indirect television advertising of alcoholic beverages.
The Advocate General's conclusions have been published several months ahead of the Court's ruling with regard to a question brought by the French Cour de Cassation in the Bacardi France case. The French supreme court asked the European Court of Justice whether the Evin law contravened EU legislation, particularly the 1989 Television without Frontiers Directive.
Antonio Tizzano's conclusion also apply to a similar case in the form of a direct appeal by the European Commission against France, where the Commission is seeking a declaration of the Court that the French legislation is incompatible with the freedom to provide services because of the obstacles which the Loi Evin places in the way of the broadcasting in France of foreign sporting events.
The Advocate General takes the view, first, that the televised images of those panels placed around the playing field necessarily appear throughout the event without it being possible to separate them clearly from the images of the action on the field, as required by the directive. The directive is, in his view, therefore not applicable in that case.
He considers that the measures adopted by the Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel, requiring the negotiators of television rights to use every 'means available' to prevent advertising for alcoholic beverages from appearing on French television screens, effectively constitutes a restriction on the freedom to provide services, but are justified under the freedom of mss to decide how to protect public health. Moreover, the distinction between multinational and other events makes it possible to strike a better balance between protecting public health and the freedom to supply services because it reduces the number of sports events which cannot be broadcast in France, he explains.
Mr Tizzano takes the view that the French legislation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to protect public health since television broadcasters do not have the means to obscure hoardings advertising alcoholic beverages and that modern image masking techniques cannot be used because they are costly (because the images flash past so quickly).
Moreover, the mere fact that another Member State imposes less strict rules concerning advertising of alcoholic beverages does not mean that the French rules are disproportionate.
In the proceedings for a preliminary ruling (C-429/02), the French television channel TF1 had required of the companies Groupe Jean-Claude Darmon and Girosport, responsible for negotiating television broadcasting rights for football matches, to ensure that the brand names of alcoholic beverages did not appear on television screens. Consequently, a number of foreign football clubs refused to let Bacardi France, which produces and markets many alcoholic beverages, to rent advertising hoarding space around the pitch.