CELEX: C2002/202/26
Language: en
Date: 2002-08-24 00:00:00
Title: Case C-262/02: Action brought on 16 July 2002 by the Commission of the European Communities against the French Republic

C 202/18                 EN                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                     24.8.2002
Action brought on 16 July 2002 by the Commission of                      The measures taken by the CSA give rise to several ‘restrictive
 the European Communities against the French Republic                    effects’ on the freedom to provide services. First, the French
                                                                         broadcasting services are not authorised to accept advertise-
                           (Case C-262/02)                               ments for alcoholic beverages or to broadcast programmes,
                                                                         such as sporting events, which are likely to entail publicity for
                           (2002/C 202/26)                               such products, whatever their origin. Those effects extend to
                                                                         retransmissions and in that way also affect operators located
                                                                         in another Member State. This applies, inter alia, to foreign
An action against the French Republic was brought before the             organisers of sporting events taking place outside France, who
Court of Justice of the European Communities on 16 July                  are prevented from selling retransmission rights to French
2002 by the Commission of the European Communities,                      broadcasting services (or their agents) when those broadcasts
represented by H. van Lier, acting as Agent, with an address             are likely to entail publicity for alcoholic products. Second, it
for service in Luxembourg.                                               affects the holders of licences for the advertising hoardings
                                                                         installed around stadiums, since they are unable to sell
The Commission of the European Communities claims that                   advertising space to French or even non-French advertisers
the Court should:                                                        without running the risk that the advertising might have to be
1.    Declare that, by making the televised broadcasting in              withdrawn from the stadium to enable the match to be
      France by French television channels of sporting events            broadcast by a French station. Lastly, the situation complained
      taking place in the territory of other Member States               of could also lead to restrictions on the sponsorship activities
      conditional upon the prior withdrawal of publicity pro-            provided to sports clubs by the producers of alcoholic
      moting alcoholic beverages, the French Republic has                beverages.
      failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 49 (ex 59) of
      the EC Treaty;
2.    Order the French Republic to pay the costs.
                                                                         The measures in question are inadequate in that they apply in
Pleas in law and main arguments                                          the absence of proof of evasion of the law by advertisers of
                                                                         alcoholic beverages and in that, in any event, they are
The measures taken by the Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel             disproportionate owing to their arbitrary nature. The Com-
(Higher Council for the Audiovisual Sector, hereinafter ‘the             mission considers that the system introduced by the French
CSA’) in accordance with the Law of 10 January 1991 limiting             authorities to combat or prevent cases of evasion of the Loi
publicity promoting alcoholic beverages (‘Loi Evin’), which              Evin lacks precision and does not enable operators to know
according to the CSA’s interpretation, as formalised in a Code           with sufficient certainty the extent of their rights. It is
of Good Conduct, is to apply to the televised broadcasting in            accordingly disproportionate. In particular, the dividing line
French territory, by French television channels, of sporting             between different types of events (multinational events, to
events taking place in the territory of other Member States,             which the Loi Evin would never be applied, and binational
when publicity promoting alcoholic beverages appears on the              events, to which the Loi Evin would be applied, unless there
sports grounds concerned, constitute an infringement of                  was proof that the law was not being evaded) is not clearly
Article 49 EC.                                                           established in the Code of Good Conduct.