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The European Commission has decided to initiate infringement procedures against Member States violating the EU tobacco advertising ban as contained in the Tobacco Advertising Directive 2003/33/EC. This Directive bans tobacco advertising in printed media, on radio and over the internet. It also prohibits tobacco sponsorship of cross-border events or activities. It only targets advertising and sponsorship with a cross-border dimension and does not allow exemptions regarding the entry into force of the prescribed measures and prohibitions. However, exemptions delaying implementation beyond the prescribed...

In its ruling in case C-356/04 the Court of Justice sheds light on the compatibility of advertisements comparing ranges of products with the Misleading and Comparative Advertising Directive. Colruyt, a company operating a chain of supermarket stores in Belgium, availed itself of two methods of comparative advertising. The first consisted in comparing general price levels in various supermarkets on the basis of prices charged in respect of a wide range of identical or similar basic consumables offered by itself and its competitors. As a second tactic, Colruyt advertised a line of products asserting...

No final decision has yet been taken on the future of advertising for private betting services in Germany. In a ruling of 28 March 2006, the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court - BVerfG ) had decided that, in its current form, the state's sports betting monopoly in the Bundesland of Bavaria was incompatible with the Grundgesetz (Basic Law) (see IRIS 2006-6:8). According to subsequent BVerfG decisions of 4 July 2006 (case no. 1 BvR 138/05) and 2 August 2006 (case no. 1 BvR 2677/04), the same applied to the state's sports betting monopolies in Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia....

The Consiliul Naţional al Audiovizualului (regulatory authority for the electronic media in Romania - CNA ) has submitted to the lower house of the Romanian Parliament a proposal to amend the current Audiovisual Act ( Legea audiovizualului Nr. 504 din 11 iulie 2002 ). One of the key changes suggested by the CNA is an increase in the penalties laid down in the current Act, which range from ROL 50 to 500 million (RON 500 to 5,000), to penalties ranging from ROL 500 million to 1 billion (RON 5,000 to 100,000). EUR 1 is currently worth RON 3.5. According to Art. 90 of Act No. 504, these fines are imposed...

In May 2006, the Dutch Media Authority published its report on the regulation of the Dutch commercial television market. In this report, the Media Authority analyses the current highly competitive commercial television market and concludes that there is no level playing field as not all competitors are judged by the same standards. The reason for this is that one of the three competitors, RTL Nederland, operates under a Luxembourg broadcasting licence and as such falls under the jurisdiction of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, whereas the others are subject to Dutch regulation. Even though both...