The European Commission has been asked by the European Parliament to consider a pan-European law to stop discrimination against women in advertising. However, the Irish EU Commissioner, Mr Padraig Flynn, told the parliament that while he accepted the main thrust of a report on the portrayal of women in advertising, he warned the MEPs to be aware of the need to strike a balance between freedom of expression and the wish to prevent the undermining of human dignity in advertising.
The Commission, he said, favoured a non-discriminatory clause to be included in the New European Treaty but he said that his own preference would be for an advisory committee rather than a code of practice for the advertising industry in Europe.
The report recommends the development of the European Alliance for Advertising Self-Regulation into a fully-fledged self-regulatory body for the European advertising industry. It could then establish European principles for advertising, including opposition to all discriminatory advertising. It would also be empowered to deal with cross-border complaints.
The German MEP, Ms Marlene Lenz, who prepared the report, told the Parliament that demeaning portrayals in advertising infringed women's rights.
She argued that national legislation did not prevent the degrading depiction of women and called for a media council to provide an advertising code. She also called for women to have more influence on advertising.
British Labour MEP, Ms Eryl McNally, complained about the gratuitous display of women's bodies to sell goods by people purely out to make money. Such a display also created stereotypes few women would recognise. Some of the advertising was appalling and the present system of self-regulation was inadequate, she said.
Mr Flynn said the 1997 EU directive on television did exclude advertising on the grounds of sex but he said there was still a need for member-states to co-operate and exchange information.