>>The Blue Book: a snapshot of European self-regulation

The fourth edition of EASA’s Blue Book – officially Advertising self-regulation in Europe – was published in April this year. A handy guide for the advertising professional, it gives an overview of the legislative and self-regulatory rules in place governing advertising. However, it also offers a broad picture of how self-regulation in Europe is shaping up – and is likely to prove a useful source of information during the upcoming advertising self-regulation ‘round table’ with the European Commission’s Health and Consumer Protection arm, DG Sanco.

“Since the 2001 edition of the Blue Book, self-regulation in Europe has been the subject of two important declarations,” explains Dr Oliver Gray, Director General of EASA.

EASA’s Statement of Common Principles, published in 2002, encapsulated self-regulation’s founding principles. Then, in 2004, representatives of the advertising industry re-confirmed their support for these values by signing a Self-Regulatory Charter.

The Charter, which formally recognises the ‘rich tapestry’ of self-regulatory systems in place across Europe, commits signatories to achieving ten objectives: comprehensive coverage of advertising by self-regulation; adequate and sustained funding; comprehensive codes of practice; stakeholder consultation in code development; consideration of involvement of stakeholders in complaint adjudication; efficient administration; efficient complaint handling; provision of advice to advertisers; effective sanctions; and effective levels of awareness of the self-regulatory system.

Dr Gray believes that these two documents launched a sea-change in the advertising industry’s approach to developing effective self-regulation, turning philosophical commitment into concrete action.

“The most tangible illustration of industry’s commitment is the work that’s gone into establishing self-regulation in new EU Member States and potential accession countries,” confirms Dr Gray. Since 2001, two new self-regulatory organisations (SROs) have been put in place – in Greece and in Romania – while several more – in the Baltic States, Bulgaria and Poland – are in the early stages of development. Major reforms are underway in Belgium and Portugal, and the Netherlands is in the process of implementing the first continental levy funding system, to establish a sustainable funding structure. The completion of the European self-regulatory network is currently the objective of a project team, with members drawn from advertisers, agencies, the media, and existing SRO officers.

In terms of the operation of existing SROs, despite the differences in the cultural environments within which SROs exist, some similarities are clear.

For instance, the majority of SROs offer copy advice – a service designed to stop code infringements before they even happen. This gives advertisers and agencies the opportunity to run their creative ideas past the SRO to see if they are likely to breach the code of practice.

The Blue Book also points to a wide coverage of media in the EU: few SROs reported the exclusion of a particular medium.

A picture also emerges of a system devoted to ‘commercial’ advertising – that is excluding religious, non-profit, public service and charity advertising. Party political advertising is the most often excluded type of communication, perhaps unsurprisingly – it is not self-regulation’s role to intervene in the democratic process.

But in addition to operational information, the Blue Book also lists legislative and self-regulatory rules, country-by-country.

Wide variations in the potential scope for self-regulation emerge. In countries like the UK and Spain, the role of self-regulation is increasingly officially recognised in law. Conversely, in countries like Sweden and Germany, comprehensive advertising legislation leaves less scope for self-regulation.

Pressure to improve self-regulation is also increasing from separate debates on food and alcoholic drinks advertising, as highlighted in the ‘issues’ section of the Blue Book. The EU’s Better Regulation initiative highlights the importance of assessing self-regulatory routes before resorting to legislation.

“The legislative landscape makes it all the more important to continue to develop self-regulation in the new Member States, and we are working to deliver that,” says Dr Gray. “Consumers are entitled to a certain level of protection, and self-regulation is absolutely ideal for taking care of the minutiae of how this is delivered. But if self-regulation isn’t in place, legislation will undoubtedly fill that gap." 

The Blue Book is available via EASA’s website.