WRITTEN QUESTION E-0131/02 by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Advertising with pornographic content.
Date: 2002-02-01
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Greece, advertising, broadcasting, child protection, competence of the Member States, pornography, press, prostitution, television

C 160 E/186

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

4.7.2002

Answer given by Ms de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(15 February 2002)

The air route network in Europe is based on a structure which was set up in the 1950s based on traffic
flows at that time. Since it was set up, this structure has undergone a number of changes to keep pace
with the growth in air traffic and with advances in the technological capabilities of aircraft and air traffic
control equipment.

The network is currently reviewed and published twice a year. More radical changes to the system can also
be made if new operational concepts are introduced (1). Reorganising the air route network is done on the
basis of proposals from the Member States % each Member State having competence for its territorial
airspace % and under the coordination of Eurocontrol, which is an international organisation with
technical expertise in the field of air traffic control and responsibility for settling disputes between Member
States in the case of cross-border routes.

Despite all the improvements to the network, its current organisation and structure have proved unable to
overcome constraints due national interests, be they economic or military. As regards military interests, the
network has to allow for the fact that some zones of the airspace are reserved for exclusive military use.
This means certain flights have to use fixed corridors, resulting in bottlenecks, or bypass the reserved or
low-capacity airspace, thus increasing flight distances. Technical explanations on this situation are available
in the study on airspace management on the Commission’s Website (2).

The ‘Single Sky’ proposals (3), which are currently being discussed in the Parliament and in the Council, aim
to put an end to this inefficient situation. The proposals include airspace organisation and management
mechanisms to make the introduction of direct routes easier so as to optimise Community airspace usage
from an economic and environmental point of view (by reducing fuel consumption by up to 15 %).

This will be achieved by starting with the upper airspace (above 8550 metres) and will involve:

% increasing cooperation between civil and military authorities in order to minimise the impact on the

design of air routes in the airspace zones reserved for military use;

% reconfiguring the blocks of airspace controlled by the air traffic control centres into more efficient,

optimum-sized blocks to enhance the safety and free flow of air traffic.

(1) This was the case in 1999 when a new aircraft navigation concept was introduced (Basic Area Navigation
(B-RNAV)), and again this year with the reduction by half of the vertical separation of aircraft above 8700 metres
(Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM)).

(2) http://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/themes/air/english/single_eur_sky_en.html.
(3) COM(2001) 564 final/2.

(2002/C 160 E/233)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0131/02

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(1 February 2002)

Subject: Advertising with pornographic content

In his answer of 7 January 2002 to my written questionNoE-3095/01 (1), Commissioner Bolkestein
comments that there are no ‘cross-border implications of such national press advertising services’
in
reference to the advertisements with pornographic content published continuously in the Greek press,
which are also read by minors (as stated in my parliamentary question) whose minds are affected by them.

No doubt the Commissioner is unaware that many of these advertisements, along with others broadcast on
subscription television channels, refer to telephone sex lines in England and other countries and that,
therefore, the argument that there are no ‘cross-border implications’ is not valid.

4.7.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 160 E/187

Is the Commission aware of the above? In the light of these developments, what steps will the Commission
take to ban the publication of pornographic advertisements and their broadcasting on television so that the
impressionable minds of minors who come into contact with their vulgar content are not tainted?

(1) OJ C 115 E, 16.5.2002, p. 224.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(19 March 2002)

The Commission wishes to thank the Honourable Member for the further clarification that he has provided
on this issue following his previous question E-3095/01 and the Commission’s reply of 7 January 2002 (1).

As regards the issue of press advertising services it
there are cross-border
implications. The sale of advertising space by a Greek press publishers to advertisers of telephone sex lines
in other Member States is clearly a cross-border service under Article 49 of the EC Treaty. This does not
imply that the Commission would oppose restrictions in this field as long as they were not of a
discriminatory nature and were proportionate to the objective of protecting minors. In the current instance
the Greek laws and codes of conduct for such press advertising would apply given that the Honourable
Member refers to press established within that Member State. It is for the Greek authorities to take action
in this field in conformity with the principles of Community law as explained above.

is now apparent

that

As regards satellite broadcasting services, the Television without frontiers Directive (Council Directive
89/552/EEC of 3 October 1989 on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by Law, Regulation or
Administrative Action in Member States concerning the pursuit of television broadcasting activities (2) as
amended by Directive 97/36/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 1997 (3), hereafter the
TVWF Directive) provides the legal framework for television broadcasting within the Union.

The TVWF Directive provides that each Member State shall ensure that all television broadcasts transmitted
by broadcasters under its jurisdiction comply with the rules of the system of law applicable to broadcasts
intended for the public in that Member State.

However, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, the Directive does not affect the responsibility of
the Member States and their authorities with regard to the organisation (including the systems of licensing,
administrative authorisation or taxation), financing and the content of programmes. Member States may
therefore,
in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, establish rules concerning the content of
programmes broadcast by broadcasters within their jurisdiction.

The Commission is aware of the possible effects that pornographic material may have on minors.
Therefore, as regards the distribution by television of audiovisual material, the TVWF Directive establishes
a common minimum standard for the protection of minors (Article 22) and requires Member States to
ensure that television broadcasts by broadcasters under their jurisdiction do not include programmes
which might seriously impair the physical, mental or moral development of minors, in particular those
that involve pornography or gratuitous violence. A detailed mechanism exists that enables Member States
to take action when broadcasts include such programmes.

The implementation and application of Community law is of great importance to the Commission.
Measures have been taken on a number of occasions, in accordance with Articles 2(2) and 22 of the
Directive, and the Commission has, as provided for by the TVWF Directive, fulfilled its obligations as
regards the assessment of those measures.

(1) OJ C 115 E, 16.5.2002, p. 224.
(2) OJ L 298, 17.10.1989.
(3) OJ L 202, 30.7.1997.