Address by Mr Noel Treacy, T.D., Minister for Science, Technology and Commerce to the 20th Anniversary Dinner of ASAI Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin on 17th May 2001, at 8.00pm

I am delighted to be here and I would like to thank the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland for inviting me to join with you all in this evening’s celebratory Dinner.

ASAI has been in existence now for over 20 years and it has performed an increasingly important role in the industry during that time. Tonight’s event gives me the opportunity to acknowledge publicly the great work carried out by ASAI on behalf of Irish society.

ASAI performs a vital function in the regulation of the advertising industry. The importance of regulation in this key industry is underlined by the existence of national and EU legislation in areas such as misleading advertising, comparative advertising and in regard to the labelling and advertising of foodstuffs and other products. Such regulation is mostly concerned with ensuring the accuracy and truthfulness of advertising, particularly where the health, safety or economic interests of consumers are concerned.

Advertisements which do not fail the legal tests of being truthful or are not misleading may still, however, cause offence to certain individuals or groups in society. Sometimes it can offend both. This can be for any number of reasons. This is the reason that the non-statutory protection afforded through the ASAI Codes and standards has a valuable role to play in complementing the legislation that is currently in force.

ASAI is an important example of how sectors of industry can work together to promote high standards of best practice. Such efforts are to be applauded and serve to enhance the reputation and credibility of your industry.

ASAI is a consumer-orientated organisation, you attach great importance to the role of the consumer in bringing about improved standards. Through the promotional campaign, launched by An Tanaiste back in 1998, ASAI, has sought to encourage the consumer to be more aware of their rights and to be more willing to complain when certain standards are not met.

With valuable support from its members, ASAI has put considerable effort into heightening its own profile and into ensuring that the consumer knows who you are, what you do and how to contact you in the event that they wish to make a complaint. I am glad to see that this campaign contributed to a significant rise in the level of consumer complaints last year. I fully agree that this is to be viewed in a positive light and not as a reflection on the standards of advertising in the industry.

Regulation, be it statutory or non-statutory will not be effective unless people know it exists, are made aware of the rights that it confers on them, and, most importantly of all, know how they can obtain redress when things go wrong.

While individuals and organisations are becoming increasingly informed and active on a range of issues, consumers as a distinct group are not as well as organised, and thus not as well placed to influence policy as other recognised stakeholders. We are committed to seeking ways of strengthening the dialogue between Government and wider civil society, especially consumers. In this regard enhancing the Consumer Voice is one of the key areas for action included in the Strategy Statement for our Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for the next three years.

Developing a stakeholder role for consumers is not something that concerns only Government. I would also like to see business being much more proactive in developing opportunities for dialogue with consumers. Well- informed confident consumers will demand higher standards from business, thereby encouraging innovation and the provision of high quality goods and services. Business should welcome the opportunity to demonstrate to consumers how compliant they are with the regulation that does exist.

The development of an effective business/consumer dialogue could, I believe, result in concrete benefits for both parties, including a greater involvement by consumers in standard setting. By identifying means of achieving consumer policy objectives other than by statutory regulation, the regulatory burden for business could be reduced.

The challenge for us as legislators at both EU and national levels is to develop a regulatory environment that provides for the highest standards of protection for the health, safety and economic well being of all consumers and at the same time increases the quality of goods and services available to consumers by supporting business to be innovative and competitive.

As members of the European Advertising Standards Alliance I am sure that you have been following the discussions that have been taking place in relation to regulation in the area of Commercial Communications under the auspices of the Internal Market Directorate. The anticipated Commission Communication on this issue will, I am sure, be of particular interest to your industry.

Commissioner David Byrne who has specific responsibility for Consumer Protection issues has also initiated a debate on the issue of developing a new approach to regulation and good market behaviour. It is hoped that the Commission will publish a Green Paper on this issue during this summer. I believe that the time is ripe for debates on these issues to be taking place.

The pace of technological change and in particular the development of e-commerce will have a fundamental impact on the daily lives and transactional behaviours of all of us. While the general objectives of regulation may not significantly change, it is clear that the means of achieving them will have to take account of market changes.

E-Commerce does have the potential to remove many of the geographical barriers to cross-border trade not just within the Internal market but also on a global level. However, this will only happen if consumers become confident in engaging in on-line transactions and have sufficient confidence in the means of redress available to them when things go wrong.

This is the reason that priority has to be given to advancing the initiatives outlined in the e-Europe Action Plan to build consumer confidence in e-commerce, in particular the development of the EEJ-NET (EU wide network of out of court bodies for the settlement of consumer disputes). I am pleased to say that ASAI is one of the bodies that has been notified to the Commission by our Department to participate in this project.

I am delighted that the ASAI is responding in timely fashion to the changing environment by participating with their European partners in working on the issue of how to deal with complaints about advertising on the Internet. I would like to congratulate the ASAI and EASA for their foresight and enthusiasm in pursuing this initiative.

I would like to say a few words about the forthcoming referendum on the Treaty of Nice. The main purpose of the Treaty is to prepare the Union for the significant expansion in its membership anticipated in the next few years.

From our point of view, we have benefited enormously from the single market, as exports are very important for our economic growth. The internal market will be extended to embrace up to 500 million people, thereby giving us additional opportunities for increasing our exports. I believe most of us know that Europe is good for business. The Structural and Cohesion funds have also been vital in developing our infrastructure.

Naturally the Union has recognised that to continue to operate effectively with many new Member States, some changes will be necessary to the Union’s institutions and decision-making procedures. These necessary changes will affect the Commission, voting weights in the Council, the European Parliament and other bodies, and extends the range of issues subject to qualified majority voting or QMV. As a country, it is certainly in our interest that the Union be able to function effectively after enlargement.

The essential interests of Ireland, as a smaller state, have been protected in the Treaty. Very briefly, we will continue to nominate a Commissioner until the Union reaches 27 Member States. Once there are 27 Members, there will be a rotation system for the Commission, with each State treated on an exactly equal basis, irrespective of size, population or location.

Qualified majority voting, already used for the majority of Council decisions, is being extended to new areas to facilitate decision-making in a larger Union. This means that any single Member State cannot block measures in these areas which we support. However I am sure many of you are aware that one area which will not move to QMV is the area of taxation, where our Taoiseach insisted at Nice on the retention of unanimity. We believe that taxation is a fundamental tool of national policy-making and must remain subject to domestic control within each country.

I have no hesitation in urging a Yes vote in favour of the Treaty of Nice on 7^th June next.

ASAI helps to develop and maintain an awareness and a sense of social responsibility which I know will continue to stand the industry in good stead for the future. I would like to congratulate you all for the contribution that you have already made, express my appreciation for your ongoing commitment and work and take this opportunity to wish you well for the next 20 years, which I am confident will be positively exciting for all of us.