EUROPEAN MEDIA GOVERNANCE: EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNICATIONS AGENCIES (EACA)

The European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA) is a Brussels-based organisation which represents full-service advertising and media agencies and agency associations across Europe. EACA promotes honest, effective advertising, high professional standards and awareness of the contribution of advertising in a free market economy and encourages close co-operation between agencies, advertisers and media in European advertising bodies.

EACA addresses its members’ regulatory concerns both at European and national level and ensures that their voice is heard by decision-makers. EACA monitors closely policy debates around advertising, forms industry coalitions and engages in pro-active advocacy strategies that promote evidence-based and proportionate regulation.

The main policy areas EACA is currently focusing on:​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

1. Alcohol Advertising: EACA is an active member of the EU Alcohol and Health Forum, a platform coordinated by the European Commission where bodies active at European level can debate, compare approaches and act to tackle alcohol related harm. To become members of the European Alcohol and Health Forum, organisations must meet certain requirements and make one or more specific commitments for action.
2. Advertising and Children: EACA is a member of the Responsible Advertising and Children (RAC), a Programme which helps its members to anticipate and understand societal and parental perceptions of and aspirations for responsible marketing communications and children. RAC’s role is to provide global leadership by championing good practices in marketing communications to children and to carry a continued dialogue and engagement with policy-makers, society and consumers.
3. Copyright:  In December 2013, the European Commission launched a public consultation inviting all interested parties, including individuals and NGOs, to offer their thoughts on how the EU copyright rules should be developed. The answers to this consultation will be taken into account when the Commission decides on whether to start a legislative initiative for copyright reform. The consultation addresses issues such as limitations and exceptions to copyright in the digital age, fragmentation of the EU copyright market and how to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of enforcement while underpinning its legitimacy in the wider context of copyright reform.
4. Converging Media : The European Institutions are currently looking into the implications of new technologies and convergent media for areas such as data protection, advertising and protection of minors. The European Commission launched a public consultation with the aim of assessing the opportunities and threats imposed by increasingly converged media. The results of the consultation can influence the European Commission’s decision to revise the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, which establishes, among others, rules related to advertising and the distribution of audiovisual media services.
5. Data Protection: In 2012, the European Commission proposed a major reform of the EU legal framework on the protection of personal data. The new proposal aims to ensure the same level of protection for data subjects in the online and offline environments. Some of the issues currently discussed can affect the legal background for processing data for online behavioural advertising. The Industry Coalition for Data Protection, of which EACA is a member, calls on the European Parliament and Council to reach for a balanced Data Protection Regulation in their negotiations for an agreement on the final text.
6. Food Advertising: Through its involvement in the EU platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, EACA is engaged in promoting public health challenges posed by obesity. The platform is a forum for European-level organisations, ranging from the food industry to consumer protection NGOs, willing to commit to tackling current trends in diet and physical activity.
7. Gender in Advertising: At the end of 2012, the European Parliament Women Rights and Gender Equality Committee proposed a report on the Elimination of Gender Stereotypes in the EU. One of the issues addressed in this report is the importance of advertising in preventing the sexualisation of girls and gender stereotyping. EACA is currently involved in promoting responsible advertising, as well as communicating the  industry’s progress in combating gender stereotyping.
8. Information to Patients: On 10 February 2012, the European Commission presented its latest proposal for the revision of the Information to Patients Directive. The proposals maintain the current advertising ban on prescription-only medicines and foresee that only certain information on prescription-only medicines would be allowed through limited channels of communication, while fulfilling recognized quality criteria. The European Council is currently expected to express its opinion on the legislation before negotiations can move forward.
9. Online Behavioural Advertising: EACA is a founding member of the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA), a cross-industry self-regulatory initiative developed by leading European bodies to introduce pan-European standards to enhance transparency and user control for online behavioural advertising (OBA).  In 2013, EDAA launched the “OBA Icon”, a consumer-facing, interactive symbol that links consumers to an online portal, www.youronlinechoices.eu, where they can find information on the practice of OBA as well as a mechanism for exercising informed choice – if they so wish, consumers may ‘turn off’ OBA.
10. Online Gambling : The European Institutions have been assessing aspects of online gambling across Europe, including advertising regulations. On 30 May 2013, members of the European Parliament Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee adopted an own-initiative report on ‘Online Gambling in the Internal Market’. At the same time, on 14 July 2014 the European Commission adopted a set of Recommendations on principles for the protection of consumers and players of online gambling services and for the prevention of minors from gambling online. The Recommendation encourages EU Member States to pursue a high level of protection for consumers and reiterates the importance for responsible advertising and sponsorship of gambling services.
11. Unfair commercial practices/Consumer Protection: The European institutions are currently looking into the issue of unfair commercial practices and aim to combat illegal business-to-business marketing practices such as fake business directories, payment forms, internet domain name and trademark protection scams and misleading ‘business opportunity’, ‘work from home’ or ‘get-rich- quick’ schemes. On 17 December 2013,  the European Parliament Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee unanimously adopted the report on the Implementtaion of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive.
12. Viewable Impressions: Within the digital advertising ecosystem, the associated issues of viewable impressions, (so-called) bot traffic and brand safety have become a growing concern. In the more sophisticated digital media markets (e.g. US, UK and other Northern European markets) various industry stake-holders have collaboratively identified the key challenges and begun to develop solutions. The EACA and its  members (primarily the national advertising associations and major agency groups across Europe) fully understand the importance of this subject and are actively encouraging, supporting and contributing to the process of designing effective remedies.

Alliances & Partners

The Commercial Communications Industry consists of various stakeholders. EACA works with representative associations and forms industry alliances in order to achieve cross-industry positions on key issues.

• Advertising Information Group
• Creative Media Business Alliance (CMBA)
• European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA)
• Responsible Advertising and Children.

ICDP

The Industry Coalition for Data Protection (ICDP) is comprised of 16 associations representing thousands of European and international companies who are building, delivering, and advancing the digital experience. Members of ICDP include:

• Association for Competitive Technologies (ACT)
• American Chamber of Commerce to the EU (AmCham EU),
• The Software Alliance (BSA)
• DIGITALEUROPE,
• European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA)
• European Digital Media Association (EDiMA)
• European Multi-channel and Online Trade Association (EMOTA)
• European Publishers Council (EPC)
• European Internet Services Providers Association (EuroISPA)
• Federation of European Direct and Interactive Marketing (FEDMA)
• GS1
• IAB Europe
• Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE)
• Japan Business Council in Europe (JBCE)
• TechAmerica Europe
• World Federation of Advertisers (WFA)

Partner Associations

• Advertising Association
• European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA)
• Association Européenne des Radios (AER)
• Association of Television and Radio Sales Houses (egta)
• European Multi-channel and online Trade Association (EMOTA)
• IAB Europe
• Association of Commercial Televisions in Europe (ACT)
• European Advertising Standards Alliance
• European Magazine Media Association
• European Publishers’ Council (EPC)
• Inspiring Excellence in Communications Worldwide (IAA)
• Federation of European Direct and Interactive Marketing
• FEPE International
• World Federation of Advertisers (WFA)

 Event Partnerships

• ProcureCon
• I-com