[sustran] EU may force car makers to reveal emissions in adverts [and
more]
Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory
edelman at greenidea.eu
Thu May 22 20:19:09 JST 2008
*EU may force car makers to reveal emissions in adverts
*
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The Independent (London), May 17, 2008 Saturday - The European Union is
preparing to introduce tough new rules on car advertising, forcing
manufacturers to include conspicuous and easily understood information
about petrol consumption and emissions.
The new line follows the EU's decision to exert ever-greater control on
the way that tobacco, alcohol and food products can be advertised,
counterbalancing the claims and sales lines of advertisers with warnings
about the health implications of their products.
Details of the proposal to compel car manufacturers to own up to the
carbon footprint of their vehicles will be unveiled by the end of the
month, after which the politicians and car industry representatives will
discuss them for the first time. [The following is for me the most
interesting] As well as spelling out the environmental implications of
the cars, the draft regulations are said by Der Spiegel magazine to
require manufacturers to put a brake on the prose and the images used to
imprint the desirability of their latest models. Any reference to
sportiness will apparently be frowned on.
The target of the new rules is obviously the gas-guzzler, and as the
country that produces the great majority of Europe's luxury cars -
including those driven by the chauffeurs of most European Commissioners
- the German industry is already up in arms about the restrictions.
As the EU sends its forces of righteousness into new terrain, the
advertising men are putting up a fight. Volker Nickel, of the German
Advertising Industry Association, complains of "constant new regulations
and more and more government control," amounting to "a gigantic
re-education programme for consumers and producers."
Magazine and newspaper publishers, which depend on car advertising for
as much as 20 per cent of their revenue, are worried that the car
companies, threatened with having their images of luxury and sportiness
mutilated by the sort of loud warnings that adorn cigarette packets, may
seek other ways to promote their products. Bernd Kundrun, the chairman
of the German publishing company Gruner + Jahr, fears "dramatic
consequences" for print media. Mathias Dopfner, the chief executive of
the publishing giant Axel Springer, claimed the new rules would be "a
major threat to free competition and journalism".
Environmentalists argue that the car industry has only itself to blame.
Way back in 1999, Brussels introduced guidelines on information about
the CO2 emissions and petrol consumption of cars, stating that it should
be "easily legible and no less pronounced than the main part of the
advertising message" and "easily understood, even when read briefly".
But these were only guidelines, and the industry abused them heartily.
In a flagrant recent example highlighted by environmental campaigners,
the image of a luxury car was splashed across a 23ft-long hoarding -
with the consumption and emissions information about it printed in
letters one-quarter of an inch high.
So now self-regulation has failed, tough rules are to follow. But they
are still being thrashed out in Brussels. The president of the EU
Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, is still fighting a long duel with the
car industry over CO2 emissions caps, due to be introduced in 2012, and
is said to be chary about starting another war until that one is
resolved. So the first guidelines may be relatively mild, but if so that
will be only a tactical ploy. Implementation of tough rules will merely
be delayed.
Meanwhile, the commissioners will continue to burn down the Continent's
roads in their Mercedes, BMWs, Audis and Jaguars. The only exception,
appropriately, is the Environmental Commissioner, Stavros Dimas - who
ostentatiously putters about in a Japanese hybrid.
May 17, 2008
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The last seven photos are new since the last announced update...
- T
--
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Todd Edelman
Director
Green Idea Factory
Korunni 72
CZ-10100 Praha 10
Czech Republic
Skype: toddedelman
++420 605 915 970
++420 222 517 832
edelman at greenidea.eu
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CAR is over. If you WANT it.
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