TV ads worry DG Sanco

Date: 08/12/05

A last-minute spat has broken out between the European Commission's consumer protection and media departments over new broadcasting rules - known as Television Without Frontiers - which are to be published on Tuesday (13 December).

According to sources, the Commission's health and consumer protection department (DG Sanco) is worried about Media Commissioner Viviane Reding's plans to loosen restrictions on advertising time for 'non-linear' services such as online broadcasting.

DG Sanco officials fear that the new rules could lead to a deterioration in consumer protection as advertisers flood the services.

Reding, supported by the broadcasting industry, favours a 'light touch' approach to new media which, unlike traditional broadcasting, is geared towards total consumer choice. As a result, the current proposal would not limit advertising, even though on terrestrial television advertising has always been limited to 20% of total broadcasting time.

But an official from the Commission's media department said that he was "still confident" that the proposal would remain unchanged.

Article reports on a dispute between the European Commission's DG Consumer Protection and its DG Information Society and Media on the revision of the EU's Television Without Frontiers Directive.