Reding: Union will not back ban on TV ads for children

Date: 29/03/01

CULTURE Commissioner Viviane Reding says there is no chance of convincing the rest of Europe to back a Swedish-style ban on TV adverts aimed at children.

Speaking in an interview with the business paper Dagens Industri, Reding said Sweden's Culture Minister Marita Ulvskog was alone in calling for such a move, adding that she should "widen her agenda".

Reding said a recent ruling by the European Court of Justice that outlawed a Swedish ban on alcohol advertising confirmed her view, adding that the EU's 1989 TV Without Frontiers directive already offered safeguards against unethical advertisements targeting children.

Reding said she had no intention of putting such a proposal to the European Commission.

"In the first place, I don't believe in a ban. Secondly, it is not right to discriminate between the media, so a ban on TV advertising must also apply to the Internet and printed media. Thirdly, advertising revenue is also used to finance high quality programmes for children."