Freedom of commercial speech in Europe

Due to the politicisation of commercial life and the commercialisation of political life the freedom of expression enters new territories and triggers conflicts in areas to which fundamental rights considerations have been rather unusual so far. The companies participate in public debates or advertise with reference to social or environmental problems. In Germany the civil courts adopted a very strict approach to this type of advertising and held that it contravened the unfair competition law. The Bundesverfassungsgericht had to ensure that the civil courts considered the right to freedom of speech on the part of the commercial speaker. The analysis extends to the general freedom of speech theory and other constitutional law matters. This book is therefore intended for law students, scholars and practitioners, especially comparativists, who wish to gain more general understanding of the constitutional issues and the standards of protection of freedom of speech across Europe.