Media and advertising industry leaders along with leading EU decision makers met at the European Parliament

Last night’s Media Lounge debate in the European Parliament tackled the core question for creative industries in Europe: do European policy makers want to maintain a creative Europe or do they want a Europe that will only consume creative works from outside Europe as regulation outpaces innovation and competition in the creative sector against global competitors.

Panelist Florian Nehm (Axel Springer), representing Europe’s publishers, highlighted that advertising is key for the economic viability of the media and therefore fundamental for editorial freedom, independence and diversity, fostering the role of the press in Europe’s democratic society. The panel concluded that advertising was a key driver for the creative sector and any attempt to ban or restrict advertising – including the introduction of mandatory information requirements in advertising – undermines the overall objective of maintaining and developing a thriving creative sector in Europe.

The existence of effective advertising self-regulation across Europe ensures responsible advertising. Max von Abendroth, Executive Director of the European Magazine Media Association comments: “The reason that self-regulation has become so appreciated by legislators, civil society and businesses is that a properly designed and well administered self-regulatory system provides a swift, flexible, inexpensive and effective means of achieving the objectives of those stakeholders involved. This is the case for advertising self-regulation in Europe.”

Representatives of the European media and advertising industry – including the European Magazine Media Association (EMMA) - met at the European Parliament last night, with high level decision and policy makers from the European Parliament and from the Commission as well as with industry senior executives, to share their vision of Europe 2020, the European Union’s growth strategy, and to discuss how advertising could be more effectively used in order to catalyse growth, jobs and competitiveness in the creative sector.

The event was hosted by MEP Nadja Hirsch and introduced by Reinhard Buescher, Head of Unit for Support for Innovation from the European Commission. The opening presentation by McKinsey Company entitled “Advertising and Economic Growth”, based on preliminary findings of the McKinsey Global Institute research reminded the audience that while it is a stylized fact that the state of the economy influences the amount spent on advertising, there is also a reverse cause-and-effect whereby advertising acts as a stimulus to both company performance as well as macroeconomic growth. According to the preliminary findings, “advertising’s contribution to economic growth is on average about 10-15% and may have been contributing as high as 20% of total economic growth in the past 10 years for the G20 countries. In addition, the report shows that digital advertising boosts the impact on economic growth, mostly through indirect effects with other investments in the economy".

EMMA, the European Magazine Media Association, is the unique and complete representation of Europe’s magazine media, which is today enjoyed by millions of consumers on various platforms, encompassing both paper and digital formats.

CONTACTS:

Max von Abendroth
Executive Director

max.abendroth@magazinemedia.eu

Caroline Quintero P.
Communication Officer

caroline.quintero@magazinemedia.eu