Legal aspects of commercial advertising in the European Community

Abstract

This study deals with the role of commercial advertising in the EC from a legal point of view. It involves the identification of the leading laws regulating this commercial activity and an analysis of the Euopean Court of Justice's decisions on the various aspects of this topic. Besides affecting the fundamental principles of the Treaty, viz., the free movement of goods and the freedom to provide services, and the EC's policy on consumer protection, advertising also relates to the fundamental human right of freedom of expression, thus necessitating a reference to the jurisprudence of European Court of Human Rights.