No Single European Market For Advertisers, Finds Expert Group

Officials from the 15 member states of the European Commission, known as the Expert Group, have found in their first report that there is no single market in Europe for advertisers.

In a publication out this week, the Expert Group argues that a single commercial communications market is being seriously hampered by widely divergent laws and the infringement by certain member states of EC Treaty. The Group believes that many states are acting in a protectionist manner ostensibly in order to protect the interests of the consumer.

The creation of a properly open market for advertising across Europe is prohibited because member states are keen to protect the businesses of their national advertisers and are currently being allowed by the EC to breach Internal Market rules to do so. These are the findings of the Expert Group’s first report which appears in the June issue of Commercial Communications.

The report claims that the Commission has so far been ineffective in resolving EC Treaty infringement cases. “It seems this unwillingness to act on the part of the Commission has resulted in the member states feeling that they can be in open breach of Internal Market rules. This is not only worrying for the European commercial communications’ industry, but for all sectors of European industry and consumers alike,” says the Expert Group.

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