For once the UK marketing industry welcomed this Brussels initiative. But maybe this was the kiss of death as now, four years on, the draft EU Sales Promotion Regulation is dead. Yes, courtesy of a “Bonfire of red tape” recently announced by EC President Barroso, the Commission’s bold bid to harmonise rules for prize draws and competitions across the Union is no more.
Topic: Promotion marketing
Who: The European Commission
Where: Brussels
When: September 2005
What happened:
After almost 4 years of negotiations and amended drafts, all the indications are that the proposed EU Sales Promotion Regulation is to finally bite the dust.
The move appears to be part of a "Bonfire of red tape" initiative announced by Commission President Barroso in late September.
68 out of 183 proposed laws are to be scrapped and the Sales Promotion Regulation looks like being one of them.
Why this matters:
Funnily enough, this measure was something of a rarity in that it was in its earlier form largely welcomed by the marketing industry. Its lofty ambition of levelling out disharmonies in laws and regulations affecting various promotion marketing tools including prize draws and competitions, seemed like a very good idea. However consensus amongst member states proved impossible to achieve and in its latter versions it was a shadow of its former self, with so many exceptions that UK marketers estimated it would only affect 20% of UK promotion marketing.
