Beyond Borders: The Changing Landscape of Advertising Regulation in Europe

The latest European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA) report, published in September, provides a useful opportunity to step back from individual regulatory developments and look at the broader European advertising landscape - and at the value of cooperation across borders.

On 16 September, the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA) published its 2025 report on advertising complaints, copy advice and pre-clearance across Europe.

The figures are revealing: 55,737 complaints were handled in 2025 by 28 self-regulatory organizations across 26 European countries. Online advertising accounted for almost half of complaints, while misleading advertising remained the leading ground for complaints.

The report also highlights the significant activity of the French Advertising SRO (ARPP) in France, notably through the volume of copy advice requests and audiovisual advertising pre-clearance recorded in 2025.

Beyond the figures, however, the report illustrates the value of looking at advertising regulation from a European perspective.

Advertising itself has become increasingly cross-border. Campaigns, influencers, platforms and digital content routinely reach audiences in multiple markets, while AI is accelerating both the production and dissemination of advertising content.

While European legislation provides an increasingly common regulatory framework, national rules, practices and self-regulatory approaches continue to shape the advertising landscape across Europe. 

This makes European cooperation increasingly important.

By bringing together national self-regulatory organizations, EASA provides a platform for comparing data, identifying emerging trends, sharing experience and developing common approaches.

It also creates an opportunity for good practices developed at national level to be tested, adapted and scaled across Europe.

The evolution of AdEthics provides a particularly good illustration of this dynamic.

The Responsible Influence Certificate was developed and launched by the ARPP in France to promote more responsible and transparent influencer marketing. It has since evolved, within the EASA framework, into AdEthics, a European program, extending this approach beyond the French market.

This is an important dimension of self-regulation: European cooperation does not necessarily mean imposing a single model. It can also mean allowing effective models to circulate.

And there is certainly more to come.

The regulatory environment surrounding advertising and digital communications is continuing to evolve rapidly. The AI Act transparency provisions entered into application in August 2026, bringing new requirements around AI-generated and manipulated content. At European level, further developments are also on the horizon, notably the European Commission’s forthcoming proposal for a Digital Fairness Act and the planned review of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD).

These developments will further shape an already complex regulatory environment, raising new questions for advertisers, agencies, platforms, creators and regulators alike.

Against this background, the ability to share information and experience across borders becomes increasingly valuable. The challenge is therefore not only to develop appropriate rules and standards, but also to ensure that knowledge, experience and good practices can circulate as quickly as the advertising itself.

The EASA report provides a useful reminder that European cooperation can serve not only to measure how advertising regulation is evolving, but also to anticipate where it is heading.

(EASA Report available at https://www.easa-alliance.org/publications/2025-european-trends-in-advertising-complaints-copy-advice-and-pre-clearance/ ; more information on AdEthics at https://www.easa-alliance.org/adethics/)