Restriction on alcohol advertising in broadcasts of sport events
French laws prohibit advertising of alcohol on television under the pain of prosecution and administrative sanctions. Furthermore, under established practice, French television broadcasters might have been precluded from broadcasting sports events where alcohol was indirectly advertised on banners, billboards, T-shirts of the teams etc. That applied, in particular, to bilateral sports events addressed directly to the French public. In such cases, French broadcasters were required to refrain from broadcasting should the organisers provide advertising facilities concerning alcohol products.
The Commission enforced proceedings against France under Article 226 EC claiming infringement of the free movement of services, particularly of advertising and broadcasting services. The Court has, however, rejected charges against France.
The Court admitted that an infringement of free movement of services was involved. The Court noted that, for instance, the equipment owners were required to reject advertisements of alcohol products whenever a sports event was to be broadcasted in France. Furthermore, French broadcasters were precluded from broadcasting those games where alcohol advertisements were displayed. Organisers were in turn prevented from selling broadcasting rights to French operators whenever the transmission would contain indirect advertising of alcohol beverages.
However, the Court pointed out that restrictions to the free movement of services introduced by the Member States may be justified on the grounds of public health considerations. The Court found French provisions proportionate to that aim. The measures at issue were designed to limit the number of events available on television where the public might have viewed advertisements of alcohol and thus might have been encouraged to consume alcohol.
According to the Court, in line with well established case law, the fact that it is lawful to show advertisements of tobacco products during television broadcasts of sports events, is not relevant. Member States are free to define objectives of their public health policy and correspondingly choose implementing measures. Therefore, total prohibition in France of television alcohol advertisements may be deemed proportionate, regardless of measures applied by other Member States.
Other articles
30th Advent Concert for the Committee of Good Will – Olga Havlová Foundation
The Advent Concert of Good Will, organised since 1995 by the law firm Kocián Šolc Balaštík for the benefit of the Committee of Good Will – Olga Havlová Foundation, will this year take place on Sunday, 7 December, from 7:00 p.m., traditionally in the concert hall of the Church of Sts. Simon and Jude in the Old Town of Prague. The concert is held under the auspices of the First Lady of the Czech Republic, Mrs Eva Pavlová.
Kyberbezpečnost nově: tisíce firem čekají nové povinnosti. Iniciativa je plně na podnikateli.
Od 1. listopadu 2025 čeká tisíce firem v České republice napříč různými odvětvími zásadní změna v oblasti kybernetické regulace. Nový zákon o kybernetické bezpečnosti spolu s řadou doprovodných právních předpisů totiž výrazně rozšiřuje okruh subjektů, na které bude dopadat. Cílem regulace je zvýšit odolnost technické infrastruktury vůči kybernetickým hrozbám. Místo úzkého okruhu pouze klíčových institucí se nová pravidla budou vztahovat na široké spektrum firem a organizací, které poskytují tzv. regulované služby. Jde o služby zásadní pro fungování společnosti a státu, jejichž narušení či výpadek by mohly mít negativní dopady na bezpečnost státu, ekonomickou stabilitu a každodenní chod společnosti.
KŠB assisted with the financing of the MOSAIQ Beroun project
KŠB provided legal advice to Avisum Beroun, a member of the Go4Home Group, in connection with the financing of the construction of the residential project MOSAIQ Beroun, secured by Trinity Bank.
