"Longer Lives for Tobacco Advertisers"
The European Court of Justice has on 05/10/00 annulled the Directive 984 EC on the approximation of the laws regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to the advertising and sponsorship of tobacco products. The Directive provided for the banning of all forms of advertising and sponsorship of tobacco products in the European community (subject to certain limited exceptions) not later than 30 July 2001.

The Court's decision was in response to an application for annulment brought by the Federal Republic of Germany and a request for a preliminary ruling from the High Court of Justice arising from proceedings in the United Kingdom brought by a number of manufacturers of tobacco products. (Imperial Tobacco and others)
The Federal Republic of Germany and the tobacco manufacturers contended that the Directive was in reality a public health protection measure rather that a measure which would bring into the market place the internal-market provisions of the Treaty through the harmonisation of the national laws regulating tobacco sponsorship and advertising.

Allowing for the presence of public health protection considerations in the formulation of a Directive whose stated objective was the furtherance of internal market provisions, the ECJ found that the beneficial effects of the Directive on the elimination of distortions of competition in the tobacco industry within the internal market could not be shown and therefore that the pursuit of internal market objectives could not be used as a legislative ground for the Directive.

For the present therefore the divergences in the way in which advertising tobacco products is regulated within the Member States may continue to be exploited even though it may lead to fragmentation of the internal market.

For further info see www.curia.eu.int