L 290/18 Official Journal of the European Communities 23. 10. 97 DIRECTIVE 97/55/EC OF EUROPEAN COUNCIL of 6 October 1997 amending Directive 84/450/EEC concerning misleading advertising so as to include comparative advertising THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty (), in the light of the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee on 25 June 1997, (1) Whereas one of the Community’s main aims is to complete the internal market; whereas measures must be adopted to ensure the smooth running of the said market; whereas the internal market comprises an area which has no internal frontiers and in which goods, persons, services and capital can move freely, (2) Whereas the completion of the internal market will mean an ever wider range of choice; whereas, given that consumers can and must make the best possible use of the internal market, and that advertising is a very important means of creating genuine outlets for all goods and services throughout the Community, the basic provisions governing the form and content of comparative advertising should be uniform and the conditions ot the use of comparative advertising in the Member States should be harmonized; whereas if these conditions are met, this will help demon- strate objectively the merits of the various compa- rable products; whereas comparative advertising can also stimulate competition between suppliers of goods and services to the consumer’s advantage; (3) Whereas the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the individual Member States concer- ning comparative advertising differ widely; whereas () OJ C180,11.7.1991, p. 14, and OJ C 136, 19. 5. 1994, p. 4. () OJ C 49, 24. 2. 1992, p. 35. (*) Opinion of the European Parliament of 18 November 1992 (OJ C 337, 21. 12. 1992, p. 142), Common Position of the Council of 19 March 1996 (O] C 219, 27. 7. 1996, p. 14) and Decision of the European Parliament of 23 October 1996 (O] C 347, 16. 11. 1996, p. 69). Decision of the European Par- liament of 16 September 1997 and Decision of the Council of 15 September 1997. ( ( ( PARLIAMENT AND OF THE advertising reaches beyond the frontiers and is received on the territory of other Member States; whereas the acceptance or non-acceptance of compa- rative advertising according to the various national laws may constitute an obstacle to the free move- ment of goods and services and create distortions of competition; whereas, in particular, firms may be exposed to forms of advertising developed by compe- titors to which they cannot reply in equal measure; whereas the freedom to provide services relating to comparative advertising should be assured; whereas the Community is called on to remedy the situation; {4) Whereas the sixth recital of Council Directive 84/450/EEC of 10 September 1984 relating to the approximation of laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning mislea- ding advertising (*) states that, after the harmoniza- tion of national provisions against misleading adver- tising, ‘at a second stage ..., as far as necessary, comparative advertising should be dealt with, on the basis of appropriate Commission proposals’; (5) Whereas point 3 (d) of the Annex to the Council Resolution of 14 April 1975 on a preliminary programme of the European Economic Community for a consumer protection and information policy (%) includes the right to information among the basic rights of consumers; whereas this right is confirmed by the Council Resolution of 19 May 1981 on a second programme of the European Economic Community for a consumer protection and informa- tion policy (), point 40 of the Annex, which deals specifically with consumer information; whereas comparative advertising, when it compares material, relevant, verifiable and representative features and is not misleading, may be a legitimate means of infor- ming consumers of their advantage; {6) Whereas it is desirable to provide a broad concept of comparative advertising to cover all modes of compa- rative advertising; (7) Whereas conditions of permitted comparative adver- Y ‘) tising, as far as the comparison is concerned, should be established in order to determine which practices relating to comparative advertising may distort OJ L 250, 19. 9. 1984, p. 17. OJ C 92, 25. 4. 1975, p. 1. OJ C 133, 3. 6. 1981, p. 1.