Brussels, 21/09/2004 (Agence Europe) - The Council Presidency hopes to reach a political agreement during the Competitiveness Council on 24 September on sales promotion. The meeting of Permanent Representatives on Wednesday should, however, confirm that a blocking minority is still opposed to the text presented in October 2001 to allow companies to launch promotional operations throughout the EU. France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Portugal and Finland call for the text to be a directive and not a regulation, in order to ensure control by the State of origin. The Commission refuses such a change for now.
Delegations, however, are very divided over the mutual recognition clause which is accompanied by derogations for public health, moral or consumer protection reasons. Some, such as the United Kingdom or Ireland, call for extended market opening, and hence systematic recognition of operations authorised in other Member States. Others, with Germany in the lead, insist on limiting the clause and on strict harmonisation of information to be provided to consumers. The Presidency has put forward three options in a discussion paper, proposing "temporary derogation" lasting from three to six years.
Several questions of substance have already been resolved during negotiations. At this stage, Member States will not be able to ban promotional operations or restrict the value of promotions, except for books, the press or score sheets. Operators will not have to request prior authorisation before launching a promotional sale. The States that feared for the monopoly of the national lottery, like France and Belgium, seem to have been reassured that promotional games will not be included.