The JEP (Advertising Ethics Jury) is the self-regulatory body for advertising in Belgium, created in 1974 by the Belgian Union of Advertisers (UBA) and the Belgian Association of Communication Consulting Agencies (ACC). Its role is to monitor and regulate the use of advertising in Belgium, and recently also in the area of so-called ecological advertising.

When an ad is deemed inappropriate or unethical, the JEP reviews complaints from the public. Complaints about false or misleading claims of environmental impact can be examined according to the ecological advertising code, which consists of 14 articles.¹ The JEP can thus request the withdrawal or modification of the advertising in question. The most convincing article of the ecological advertising code is probably the 3rd:

”Advertising may not contain any statement, indication, illustration or presentation that is likely to deceive directly or indirectly about the properties and characteristics of a product or service regarding its effects on the environment.”²

Among other things, it was this article that prompted the jury to request the end of the broadcast of Lufthansa's advertising showing a plane merging with our planet and integrating the message “Protecting the world”. This ad went viral on the web until it appeared on France 2 in the program Cash Investigation.

The JEP is composed of volunteer and qualified members representing various professional sectors and areas of expertise, such as marketing, law, communication and media. Members are appointed for a term of three years and may be re-elected. In addition, the JEP publishes opinions and recommendations on issues relating to advertising ethics in Belgium, and collaborates with other regulatory bodies such as the Higher Audiovisual Council (CSA) and the Belgian Competition Authority (ABC).

The JEP is an important regulatory player in the Belgian advertising sector, particularly in terms of environmental impact and greenwashing. However, it is only a self-regulatory body that can only act in response to complaints. Moreover, its only consequence is to ask to stop the broadcast of an advertisement. So there are no legal or other proceedings. Stricter rules at the Belgian and European levels must be introduced to drastically reduce cases of greenwashing.

In the meantime, it is important to continue to make advertisers and advertising agencies aware of environmental issues, in order to reduce the abusive use of environmental communication and to promote more responsible advertising practices.


¹ https://www.jep.be/fr/
² https://www.jep.be/sites/default/files/rule_reccommendation/milieu_fr.pdf
³ Screenshot from the program Cash Investigation on France 2