Brussels, 23/03/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 19 March, the European Commission warned Estonia that it is not complying with EU rules on television advertising. According to a report by independent experts, the main Estonian television channels frequently ignore the rules set out in the Television without Frontiers Directive, which limits TV advertising and teleshopping to a maximum of 12 minutes per hour. The Commission does not accept Estonia's interpretation that certain forms of TV ads are sponsorship. It has therefore sent a letter of formal notice, the first of three stages in infringement proceedings as set out in the EC Treaty. “The commonly agreed rules of the game for advertising on European TV have to be respected by everyone in Europe, in the interest of fair competition (…). Sponsorship messages are designed to inform the viewer, but not to place more advertising than is allowed under European law”, said Commissioner Viviane Reding, responsible for the information society and media.
Estonia interprets the term “advertising spots” in an over-restrictive way and does not base its interpretation on a fair definition of the term “sponsorship messages”, experts say (Article 17 and 18, paragraph 2, of the directive). Many televised broadcasting bodies combine a sponsorship announcement with an advert and the Estonian authorities do not count these combined adverts within the 12 minute limit per hour fixed by the EU, they explain. The Estonian government now has two months in which to answer the questions raised by the Commission's letter of formal notice. (I.L./transl.jl)