FR: Loi Evin safe for the World Cup?

The EC Infringements Committee has again failed to endorse the complaint by European alcohol manufacturers against the French government’s ban on alcohol advertising, the Loi Evin. The Committee, again pressurised by the President of the Commission and the French Commissioners, has bizarrely asked for further information on the case, which is now comprehensively detailed and over three years old. Meanwhile, there has been a minor amendment to the controversial law. Advertising on objects directly linked to the consumption of alcohol – such as bottle openers – will now be permitted, but only for very closely specified direct sales. This complements the existing exemption for the broadcast and sponsorship of Formula One.

Following the detention by French police of a bus carrying British passengers but sponsored by the town and vineyards of Limoux and without the statutory health warning painted on its livery, the French Health minister has expressed the hope that a less strict interpretation of the law should be reached with French wine organisations.