Jump to full article: Agence France Presse (AFP) (fr), 2006-04-12
Intro: The European Commission may take Germany to court over its failure to implement a bloc-wide ban on tobacco advertising, EU health commissioner Markos Kyprianou said in an interview published.
"I am determined to bring this case before the European Court of Justice as soon as possible and will recommend this step to the Commission," Kyprianou told the German daily Berliner Zeitung.
Kyprianou said that Germany had missed an April 1 deadline to introduce the ban, which outlaws ads for tobacco products in print media and on the Internet. Television commercials were already illegal.
It also bans the sponsorship of cross-border cultural and sporting events by tobacco companies.
"Advertising for tobacco products increases consumption, above all because it encourages children and adolescents to start smoking," Kyprianou said.
"Advertising and sponsoring glorify smoking. They create a mood in which cigarette consumption is seen as normal and acceptable."
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