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THE LOI EVIN :

A FRENCH EXCEPTION

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What is « loi Evin »

• An alcohol and tobacco policy law voted in France in 1991

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What is « loi Evin »

• One of the most severe law on advertising in Europe

• In a country where « passion » for alcohol is hot

• In a country where alcohol control is often low

• How can we explain this real French paradox ?

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Why this law ?

• Former French law (in the seventies) was discriminating : it gave advantage to French products

• France was condemned in 1979 by the European Court of Justice

• But French governments took time to change the law

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A Decade of French advertising

From 1980 to 1990 alcohol producers used this legal gap

The ad became more and more provocative

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Sexe, alcohol and French life

• Alcohol and sexe • Alcohol and sport

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Help! What does the police ?

• Ignoring their own codes of good practices the ad men and producers went high in provocation and played with fire.

• The only way to stop these ads was to legislate

• ANPA and health experts lobbied until

• Loi Evin was voted by the French parliament

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Articles of Loi Evin on alcohol

• Definition of alcoholic drinks

• Nature of advertising authorized

• Content of advertising

• Others topics : i e alcohol selling automate are forbidden

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1. Definition of drinks

• The law gives a clear definition of alcoholics drinks :

• All drinks over 1,2 % alcohol

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2. Places and media of authorized advertising

• Advertising is forbidden

- when targeted to young people

- on TV and cinema

• No sponsorship is authorised

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3. Within these media

•Messages and images should refer only to the qualities of the products : it allows to give information on the products as the producers ask

•A health message must be included : « L’abus d’alcool est dangereux pour la santé » Alcohol abuse is dangerous for health

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Consequences of the law 1991-2004

• Illegal advertising have been condemned

• Since 1991 : - 20 advertisements were brought to the Court by ANPA

- And 18 were condemned

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Consequences of the law 1991-2004

• Penalties are high

• So alcohol producers, media and admen became more careful

• And advertising has lost most of its seductive character

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Changes in advertising

• Before the law • After the law

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These ads were judged illegal in France in 2004 !

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Consequences on Media and Sports

• Cancellation of international football matches

• American brewer Anheuser Bush could not sponsor the 1998 Football World Cup

• And France won the Cup for the first time

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What are the limits of the law ?

• Many marketing tools are not controlled

• Mailing• Internet• Social events

• Control of advertising is only a part of an overall strategy of prevention

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A law difficult to assess

• Difficult to assess the role of one factor (here advertising) on consumption and harm

• The effect of advertising on consumption is weak

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A law difficult to assess

• Assessment is more difficult in the French situation where we benefit of a dramatic diminution of the average consumption

- since 1960

- 1 % per year

- from 30 to 13 litres alcohol per capita per year

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A law difficult to assess

• Quantitative effects may be impossible to assess…

• … but symbolic effects are visible

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The symbolic effect of the law

• Advertising reinforces preconceived ideas about alcohol

• In most European countries advertising associates alcohol consumption with personal, sexual and social success… even if it forbidden by codes of practice

• A law is the only way to change this seductive language

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European ads

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Where have the French images gone ?

• Authorized ad in • Illegal ad in France

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The need for a European legislative framework

• Development of multinationals

• Products and images cross frontiers

• Internationalization of life styles and drinking cultures

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A law that cannot be ignored

• The law has been attacked in and outside France

• Very recently…

while the law has been attacked by the French wine producers…

it has been defended by the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice

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The Advocate General proposes that the Court should rule that

• French measures on advertising limit the consumption

• French rules are not disproportionate

• The French law allows the freedom to provides services enshrined in the Treaty

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We hope that the law is here to stay because this text

• is easy to apply• is difficult to distort• has modified the seductive language of

advertising • is compatible with European legislation

• This is no real surprise as the law was a response to the 1979 European Court decision

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We hope that the spirit of the law could be applied in Europe

• Minimal measures compatible with subsidiarity

• In order to protect the younger generations

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We propose for instance inside the European Union to

• Forbid all forms of marketing using sport events

• Forbid advertising on television