The Council of State rejected this Wednesday the request for a precautionary measure made by the National Union of Outdoor Advertising (SNPE) against a decree that generalizes the extinction of illuminated advertisements during most of the night, according to a car consulted by AFP.
The purpose of this decree of October 5 is to “harmonize the rules for the nocturnal extinction of luminous advertisements”, imposing in particular the extinction of these devices between 1 and 6 o’clock, with the exception of advertisements installed in airports and Supported in furniture. .urban, whose extinction is postponed until June 1. Offenders will be sanctioned with a fine of 1,500 euros and 3,000 euros in case of recidivism.
During a hearing at the Council of State on October 20, the SNPE, which also challenged the new provisions in substance, had requested the urgent suspension of the decree due to lack of time to equip the advertisements with an automatic clockwork device.
“Not all backlit panels are equipped with a clock”
“In the state of the instruction, it remains difficult to get a precise idea of the number of devices affected by a compliance” and “it does not seem that a short-term intervention” to adjust the existing clocks “would be materially impossible”, considered the Council of State. Previously, nighttime extinction was mandatory outside urban areas and was subject to local advertising regulations in urban units of more than 800,000 inhabitants.
Negotiated for a long time, the decree must allow the saving of electricity to face the energy crisis, while limiting light pollution. The SNPE, which represents some forty companies in the sector, including many SMEs, had mentioned during the hearing the figure of 12,000 devices to comply with, out of a total of 98,000.
“Not all backlit panels are equipped with a clock. We have never worked on that. We have mainly invested in digital screens, which are much easier to control remotely,” explained Valérie Descamps, CEO of Médiatransports, the transport company leading public in France. and member of the UPE (Union of outdoor advertising). About 2,000 panels located mainly in stations must be approved by the company, at a cost of about 2 million euros.
Source: BFM TV
