European Advertising Standards Alliance

The European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA) is a European body based in Brussels that supports self-regulation for the advertising industry. Self-regulation is the favoured route for an industry that wishes to avoid mandatory regulations being placed on it.

The EASA describes itself as

the single authoritative voice on advertising self-regulation issues and promotes high ethical standards in commercial communications by means of effective self-regulation, while being mindful of national differences of culture, legal and commercial practice. As a non-profit organisation based in Brussels, it brings together national advertising self-regulatory organisations (SROs) and organisations representing the advertising industry in Europe.

EASA says it "promotes responsible advertising by providing detailed guidance on how to go about advertising self-regulation across the Single Market for the benefit of consumers and businesses."

The EASA works together with the European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA), which in turn works to shape the European Commission's policy making.

History

The European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA) was set up in 1992, as a response to a challenge to the advertising industry made by Sir Leon Brittan, who was at this time the Competition Commissioner in the European Union.

The EASA website states:

In June 1991 Sir Leon Brittan, then Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for competition policy, challenged the advertising industry to consider ways of solving problems raised by the creation of the Single Market by means of self-regulation, already well-established in some Member States, thus avoiding the need for detailed legislation, which was overwhelmingly opposed by the industry.

Members

As at October 2009:

• World Federation of Advertisers (WFA)
• European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA)
• Association of Commercial Television in Europe (ACT)
• European Newspaper Publisher's Association (ENPA)
• European Publishers Council (EPC)
• Association Européenne des Radios (AER)
• European Association of Directory and Database Publishers (EADP)
• European Federation of Magazines Publishers (FAEP)
• Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe (IAB - Europe)
• European Group of Television Advertising (EGTA)
• Federation of European Direct and Interactive Marketing (FEDMA)
• JCDecaux
• FEPE International (Federation of Outdoor Advertising)
• Advertising Information Group
• International Advertising Association (IAA)
• European Sponsorship Association (ESA)

Self-regulatory members

As of March 2008:

• Österreichischer Werberat (ÖWR), Austria
• Jury d'Ethique Publicitaire/Jury voor Ethische Praktijken Inzake Reclame (JEP), Belgium
• Rada Pro Reklamu (RPR), Czech Republic
• Reklame Forum (RF), Denmark
• Liiketapalautakunta (LTL), Finland
• Bureau de Vérification de la Publicité (BVP), France
• Zentrale zur Bekämpfung unlauteren Wettbewerbs e.V. (ZEN), France
• Deutscher Werberat (DW), Germany
• Zentrale zur Bekämpfung unlauteren Wettbewerbs e.V. (ZEN), Germany
• Advertising Self-Regulation Council (SEE), Greece
• Önszabályozó Reklám Testület (ÖRT,) Hungary
• Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI), Ireland
• Istituto dell'Autodisciplina Pubblicitaria (IAP), Italy
• Lietuvos Reklamos Biuras, Lithuania
• Commission Luxembourgeoise pour l'Ethique en Publicité (CLEP), Luxembourg
• Stichting Reclame Code (SRC), Netherlands
• Rada Reklamy (RR), Poland
• Instituto Civil da Autodisciplina da Publicidade (ICAP), Portugal
• Consiliul Roman Pentru Publicitate The Romanian Advertising Council Union (RAC), Romania
• Rada Pre Reklamu (SRPR), Slovak Republic
• Slovenska Oglaševalska Zbornica (SOZ), Slovenia
• Asociación para la Autorregulación de la Comunicación Comercial (Autocontrol), Spain
• MarknadsEtiska Rådet (MER), Sweden
• Commission Suisse pour la Loyauté (CSL), Switzerland
• Reklam Özdenetim Kurulu (RÖK) Turkey
• Advertising Standards Authority Limited (ASA), Britain
• Clearcast, Britain
• Advertising Standards Canada (ASC), Canada
• The Advertising Standards Authority (ASANZ), New Zealand
• Advertising Standards Aurthority of South Africa (ASASA), South Africa
• The Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB), Australia
• Conar - Conselho Nacional de Auto-Regulamentação Publicitária, Brazil
• The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), India

Controversies

While the EASA claims to work for the benefit of both consumers and businesses, it is funded and run by the advertisers, not the consumers, so it can be expected to favour the interests of advertisers over those of consumers.

Contact

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