Spain

European Commission: Letter of Formal Notice to Spain for Non-Compliance with TV Advertising Rules

IRIS 2007-8:1/4

Mara Rossini

Institute for Information Law (IViR), University of Amsterdam

After monitoring Spanish television practices between May 2005 and July 2006 to verify compliance with the “Television without Frontiers” Directive, the European Commission found that Spanish television channels had frequently and on numerous occasions infringed the rules on advertising as contained in Articles 18(2) and 11(4) of the Directive. These infringements entailed that Spanish television advertisements often exceeded the 12 minutes per hour limit and failed to observe the 20-minute interval between advertising breaks. This situation was found to stem from the narrow interpretation retained in Spain of “spot advertising”.

The “Television without Frontiers” Directive of 1989 will be overhauled in many ways by the upcoming Audiovisual Media Services Directive (see IRIS 2006-1: 5 and IRIS 2007-2: 7), but the 12 minutes per hour limit for spot advertising will, however, remain intact.