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Articles in this category:  10.03.2009 // European Parliament’s ITRE Committee adopted mandatory information requirements in advertising
click to close The recasting of the so called Energy Labeling Directive (Council Directive 92/75/EEC of 22 September 1992) reveals to be problematic for the press and advertising freedom. Last night the European Parliament’s ITRE (Industry, Research and Energy) Committee adopted the Energy Labelling Directive including mandatory information requirements in advertising for energy related products.
This is of serious concern for Europe’s print and online press as this created an unacceptable precedent for policy messages in advertising. Press sector’s representatives, the European Federations of Magazine Publishers (FAEP) and the European Newspaper Publishers Association (ENPA) as well as the European Publishers Council (EPC), are very worried by this threat to press and advertising freedom.
A consequence of the proposed measure is that advertisers will be encouraged not to place advertising in media in the case where products might not have the most energy-efficient output, and to find other ways to market their products. At this time of economic crisis and structural changes in the media it should be noted that advertising revenues are falling from between 10% to 30% in most EU countries: press titles are already being closed, staff laid off and editorial output reduced.
Besides, advertising is an essential source for the financing of a free and independent press, which moreover plays a key role in raising the awareness of environmental issues. So whereas press gives a voice to the politicians' ambitions towards environment protection and raises awareness in society about climate change and related issues like no other media , press would loose vital revenue and citizens will lose rich editorial information about environmental issues if such a measure is adopted.
It should also not be forgotten that the directive in force has already put into place an efficient and successful system to inform consumers in a profound manner before the purchase of a product. According to the legislation in force, information relating to the consumption of electric energy, other forms of energy and other essential resources, and supplementary information has to be brought to the attention of the consumer by means of a fiche and a label directly in the show-room or indirectly by any means of distance selling.
Because of this obligation, the consumer is provided with accurate, relevant and comparable information on the specific consumption of energy and is able to make an informed purchase decision. On the contrary, the role of advertising is to promote the various brands and key features of a product or service. Advertising’s role therefore is not to inform the consumer in any great detail, which is better left to brochures, company websites and showrooms when consumers have more time and attention to pay to the important detail.
This introduction of the provision of information on energy consumption opens a pandora’s box for the future introduction of all kind of political messages in advertising: cheese contains a lot of fat, cellphones can be dangerous for health, cosmetics are tested on animals... As a result the consumer will be given judgment for each product whether it is ‘good’ or not in our society. If a consumer is sensitive to environmental issues he/she can already find the desired information before making his or her purchase decision. There is no need to dictate to individuals in advertising such matters, thus threatening press and advertising freedom.
The Parliament’s plenary is supposed to adopt this Directive in the week of 21 April.
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