European law report - Advertising green vehicles
Consumers may shortly be provided with more information than they currently have today when it comes to purchasing new vehicles. The Commission recently launched a public consultation with the objective of sounding out public opinion as to whether...
Consumers may shortly be provided with more information than they currently have today when it comes to purchasing new vehicles. The Commission recently launched a public consultation with the objective of sounding out public opinion as to whether current legislation regulating the type of data that should be made available to consumers should be enhanced.
Current EU legislation already makes provision for certain information which must be provided by car distributors to consumers in order to enable the latter to make an informed decision. This means that to date new car distributors are obliged to display fuel consumption and CO2 emissions on all new cars in the showrooms. National guides on the fuel efficiency of all new cars must also be available at the point of sale.
Posters must also be displayed at dealerships showing the data on fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of all car models for sale and information on fuel consumption and CO2 emissions must also be included in printed promotional literature such as technical manuals, brochures, and magazine ads. The Commission is now investigating whether similar requirements should be set for television, radio and internet advertising. Another option curr-ently being explored relates to whether tobacco-style environ-mental warnings relating to fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of new vehicles whereby a minimum of 20 per cent of any car advertising, marketing or promotional space would have to be dedicated to this type of information, ought to be introduced.
Such a revision is part and parcel of the latest efforts being made at EU level to reduce the amount of CO2 emissions by new vehicles. The Commission is tackling the issue on all fronts - by pushing for technological improvements to new vehicles themselves and at the same time seeking to review car labelling rules in order to ensure that consumers have sufficient information to choose fuel-efficient and low CO2-emitting cars.
As part of the ongoing consultation, all interested stakeholders are therefore being invited to submit (until July 28) an online questionnaire which may be accessed at the following address: http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/ipm/forms/dispatch?form=co2&lang=en
• Dr Vella Cardona is a freelance consultant in EU, intellecual property and competition law.
mariosa@vellacardona.com
Current EU legislation already makes provision for certain information which must be provided by car distributors to consumers in order to enable the latter to make an informed decision. This means that to date new car distributors are obliged to display fuel consumption and CO2 emissions on all new cars in the showrooms. National guides on the fuel efficiency of all new cars must also be available at the point of sale.
Posters must also be displayed at dealerships showing the data on fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of all car models for sale and information on fuel consumption and CO2 emissions must also be included in printed promotional literature such as technical manuals, brochures, and magazine ads. The Commission is now investigating whether similar requirements should be set for television, radio and internet advertising. Another option curr-ently being explored relates to whether tobacco-style environ-mental warnings relating to fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of new vehicles whereby a minimum of 20 per cent of any car advertising, marketing or promotional space would have to be dedicated to this type of information, ought to be introduced.
Such a revision is part and parcel of the latest efforts being made at EU level to reduce the amount of CO2 emissions by new vehicles. The Commission is tackling the issue on all fronts - by pushing for technological improvements to new vehicles themselves and at the same time seeking to review car labelling rules in order to ensure that consumers have sufficient information to choose fuel-efficient and low CO2-emitting cars.
As part of the ongoing consultation, all interested stakeholders are therefore being invited to submit (until July 28) an online questionnaire which may be accessed at the following address: http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/ipm/forms/dispatch?form=co2&lang=en
• Dr Vella Cardona is a freelance consultant in EU, intellecual property and competition law.
mariosa@vellacardona.com