France – EUCAM

This page contains information on statutory alcohol marketing regulations
in France (table 1); a description of the restrictions per medium (table 2); labelling information (table 3); information on non-statutory alcohol marketing regulations (table 4); the complaints procedure; and a summary about the French regulations on alcohol marketing, including exhaustive, downloadable documents from the ELSA & FASE research projects.

Updated May 2024

The legal regulations in France (Évin Law) summarized (2017):

The law applies to any drinks over 1.2% alcohol by volume and contains three core measures.

The first prohibits alcohol advertising through media targeted at young people, but other less intrusive media are allowed. Situations in which alcohol advertising is permitted are set out in the law: adult press, radio (between 12 am and 5 pm on weekdays, between midnight and 7 am on Wednesdays), billboards, online (Internet and apps, except sports organizations when young people are targeted and provided that the ads are not intrusive), inside points of sale (with a maximum sign requirement of 0.35 m² and tastings: e.g., at wine fairs), on leaflets and mail shots, alcohol delivery vehicles, special events (traditional fairs, etc.), wine museums and on objects used for alcohol consumption (e.g., glasses). Any medium not listed in the Évin Law is banned: on television, in cinemas, festivals, cultural and sporting events (sponsoring), etc.
The second measure controls advertising content in authorized situations: product information must only contain factual/informative data and objective qualities (e.g., proof, origin, composition and means of production). Consequently, attractive ads with positive, evocative images and/or text associating alcohol with pleasure, glamour, success, sport, sex, opinion leaders, etc., are not allowed.
The third measure requires the health warning ‘alcohol abuse is dangerous for health’ to appear on all alcohol advertisements.

Any sponsorship operation is prohibited when its purpose or effect is the direct or indirect propaganda or advertising of alcoholic beverages (L3323-2 Code de la Santé publique).

Show more about the complaints procedure in this country>>

Show more detailed information about the alcohol marketing regulations in this country>>

In France four different regulations exist that refer to alcohol advertising and marketing. The “Code de la Santé Publique”, which is a statutory code and the non statutory codes named « Code ‘autodiscipline et de déontologie en matière de communication commerciale », the « Code d’éthique des Brasseurs » and the “Code de bonne conduite pour la retransmission télévisée d’événements sportifs » regarding sport events. When it became clear in 1994 that the industry was using sport events broadcasted from abroad to promote alcoholic beverages exclusively for sale in France, a code was written by both the Ministry of Youth and Sport and the « Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel » after consultation of the broadcasters. In fact advertising at sport facilities is not forbidden but broadcasting is banned. In July 2004 a judgement of the EC of Justice in Luxembourg on the Commission and Bacardi case against the French Alcohol advertising ban (Loi Evin) states that “such a ban constitutes a restriction on the freedom to provide services, but is justified by the aim of protecting public”. The Court states that the French television advertising rules seek to protect public health and that they are appropriate to ensure that that objective is achieved”. So the TWF Directive is not applicable.

The Code of Public Health is statutory and includes the Loi Evin. Since January 2005 producers are allowed to communicate on references relating to quality characteristics but these must be “objective” (this was added by ANPAA in order to avoid positive representations like feasts, sport, youth, femininity, virility, etc.). Advertising can also include references relating to the labels of origin or to geographical indications. These were before limited to some spirits by a European Regulation (1989) and will now apply to all alcoholic beverages, not only wine.

The following acts implement the AVMSD: ION 2009-258 of 5 March 2009 on audiovisual communication and the new public service television and Decree No. 2008-1392 of 19 December 2008 amending the arrangements for television advertising, the television sponsorship and teleshopping However, the French law on alcohol advertising was already stricter than the Directive, therefore these acts are of limited importance.

Recent summery of the evolution of the Loi Evin*:
Since 1991, the law has been weakened by active lobbying from alcohol and wine producers and retailers. For example, billboard advertising had been initially restricted to production and sale settings, but was permitted everywhere from 1994 (‘zone of production’ amendment, p.38) (*13). In 1991, plans to set up a special fund that would use 10% of alcohol advertising expenditure to finance preventative action never materialized. In 2009, the Bachelot Law (*14) allowed online alcohol advertising (with the exception of sport websites and websites targeting young people), despite the fact that the Internet is the most popular media among young people, and despite strong opposition from NGOs (*15). In 2015, the Loi Evin was weakened once again following intense lobbying from wine producers (*16): alcoholic drinks with a certification of quality and origin, and linked to a production region or to cultural, gastronomic or regional heritage, are no longer subject to the Loi Evin’s advertising restrictions. This means that producers of drinks with these characteristics (e.g., cider, beer, wine, whisky and vodka) will be able to use media that was previously banned (on television, in cinemas) or restricted (on the radio, in the press, etc.). Arguments for this amendment were based on the difficulty of referring to wine in the press (which, it must be pointed out, was not prohibited under the Loi Evin and the subsequent difficulties encountered in the promotion of this French product – complications that were damaging to wine tourism, foreign trade and jobs (*17). This provision will come into force with the 2016 Health-Care System Law (*18).

*Literature: *13, * 14, *15, *16, 817, *18: see Karine Gallopel-Morvan et al ; France’s Évin Law on the control of alcohol advertising: Content, effectiveness and limitations; 2017 in: Addiction, 112, 86-93

Table 1	Statutory Alcohol marketing regulations in France	Coverage
	LOI n° 2005 -102 du 11 février 2005 pour l'égalité des droits et des chances, la participation et la citoyenneté des personnes handicapées	Labelling/pregnancy
	LOI HOPITAL PATIENT SANTE TERRITOIRE Titre III Prévention et Santé Publique. n°2009-879. Art. 93-94-96-97(V)	Internet/digital media, promotional items and free offer/open bars and sale in petrol station; happy hours; internet; sale to minors. Authorized advertising media: grown-up Print media, radio (time bans), posters, commercial brochures, indications on delivery vehicles, holidays and traditional fairs, [NEW: on-line with the exception of those intended for the youth or published by the sports organizations (and under reserve that the advertising is neither intrusive or interstitial] (Article 97).
	Decree of 2 October 2006 concerning the registration details of the message to sanitary character advocating the absence of alcohol consumption by pregnant women on the unit packaging of alcoholic beverages	Decree on health warning for pregnant women which is mandatory on every alcohol content
	Loi Evin	TV, radio, cinema, sponsoring, internet/digital media, outdoor, print, promotional items
	CODE DE SANTE PUBLIQUE (Public Health Code)	The rules that are introduced by above mentioned legislations are now in the Public health code, articles L. 3323-2 and following

Table 2 Statutory regulations per medium	Type of statutory restrictions
TV	Ban on alcohol advertising on TV (Loi Evin). Marketing of alcoholic drinks with a certification of quality and origin, and linked to a production region or to cultural, gastronomic or regional heritage is accepted since 2016.
TV	Only product information, no lifestyle advertising (Loi Evin)
Radio	Only product information, no lifestyle advertising (Loi Evin); between 12 am and 5 pm on weekdays, between midnight and 7 am on Wednesdays;Marketing of alcoholic drinks with a certification of quality and origin, and linked to a production region or to cultural, gastronomic or regional heritage is accepted since 2016.
Outdoor marketing	Only product information, no lifestyle advertising (Loi Evin);Marketing of alcoholic drinks with a certification of quality and origin, and linked to a production region or to cultural, gastronomic or regional heritage is accepted since 2016.
Printed media	Only product information, no lifestyle advertising (Loi Evin)
Printed media	No advertisement in publications which target minors
Cinema	Total ban on advertising (Loi Evin); Marketing of alcoholic drinks with a certification of quality and origin, and linked to a production region or to cultural, gastronomic or regional heritage is accepted since 2016.
Internet/digital media	Alcohol advertising on the internet was considered prohibited until the law n°2009-879 "Hôpital, Patient, Santé, Territoire" (2009) added online services to the list of permitted media, excluding web sites directed to young people and web sites run by sports organisations, and providing the commercials are not interstitial or intrusive. Only product information, no lifestyle advertising, no sponsorship (Loi Evin)
Promotional items	Except within the framework of holidays and declared traditional fairs … or when tastings in order to sale [NEW: it is forbidden to offer free of charge at will alcoholic drinks in a commercial purpose or to sell them all-inclusive price]. No alcohol can be sell in the petrol stations [CHANGE: between 6 pm and 8 am (vs <10pm-6am>)]. It is forbidden to them to sell cooled alcoholic drinks (Article 94 LOI HOPITAL PATIENT SANTE TERRITOIRE)
	If retailers propose alcoholic drinks at a reduced price during a restricted period (happy hours), [NEW: he also has to propose them at a reduced price to non alcoholic drinks] (Article 96 LOI HOPITAL PATIENT SANTE TERRITOIRE)
	The sale of alcoholic drinks [NEW: to the minors is forbidden (vs 16 years), as well as their offer for free to minors in bars and any markets or public places] (Article 97 LOI HOPITAL PATIENT SANTE TERRITOIRE)
(Sports) sponsorship	Sponsorship is forbidden in all areas.

Table 3 Labelling information	Description	Legally binding or self-regulation
Health warnings:	All the units of packaging of alcoholic drinks mention, in the conditions fixed by order of the minister of health and social security, a sanitary message with sanitary recommending no alcohol consumption by the pregnant women (Article 5 LOI n° 2005-102 du 11 février 2005) Order of 2/10/20007. Message: " the consumption of alcoholic drinks during the pregnancy, even in small amounts can seriously damage the child's health " or a pictogram.	Legally binding (Article L. 3323-4 of the Public health code, the health warning has been a statutory obligation since the Evin law (1991)
	Every alcohol advertisings must contain a health warning : alcohol abuse is dangerous for health.
Ingredients/nutritional information	No

A dashboard, published by Association Addictions France (2024) with most important decisions made by the Court since the adoption of Loi Evin:

https://view.genially.com/65d712d931187000145358d1/horizontal-infographic-diagrams-plan-projet-jurisprudence

Recent research related to alcohol marketing regulations in France:

Réduction des dommages associés à la consommation d’alcool

The following document contains an in depth (but older) overview of alcohol marketing regulations in France: alcohol-marketing-regulations-France.pdf

For even more (but older) information on alcohol marketing regulations in France, please take a look at France’s appendix to the 2007 ELSA (Enforcement of national Laws and Self-regulation on advertising and marketing of Alcohol) report.

For further information on alcohol marketing regulations in France contact Franck Lecas, Head of the loi Evin Unit in the Communication, Animation and Advocacy Department: Franck.lecas@addictions-france.org