No more advertising for air travel and meat in public spaces. If it were up to the Party for the Animals, the Labour Party, GroenLinks and Volt, there would be a ban on advertising for the fossil industry and products such as meat in Eindhoven. Other political parties are not yet showing enthusiasm for the plans.
The VVD, CDA, FvD and LPF clearly have no sympathy for the plans. It is a gross restriction of freedom according to the FvD and LPF. “What do the political parties get involved in?” asks LPF committee member Damian Dassen.
“We don’t deprive the people of anything, we don’t take anything away from them,” says PvdA councillor Rosa van den Nieuwenhof. “I think we are removing the deception and increasing freedom of choice. People can decide for themselves whether they want to get a steak or a car, without being influenced,” she continues. “Advertising is a push in one direction, but often in the wrong direction,” adds Jacco Rubenkamp of Volt.
The VVD questions the effectiveness and thinks that the municipality will incur a lot of lawsuits with such a ban. “Our concerns lie with potentially long legal processes,” says committee member Hilko Werkman in his argument. The city council also indicated in an earlier response that the ban has many legal drawbacks.
Patronising
CDA member Jan Joosten thinks it is a patronising proposal. “We must stimulate sustainable initiatives in a creative way. This is another ban from above.” D66 is slightly more lenient about the proposal, but wants to loosen a ban on meat advertisements. “We need to have a different debate there. Advertisements for avocados and pine nuts from China are possible, but meat from a sustainable farm in Best is not,” councillor Annelies Becker tries to explain the difference.
Jannie Visscher of the SP is also reluctant to include meat in the advertising ban. “It has to be done responsibly, but we are not against the use of animal products.”
Initiator PvdD and co-submitters PvdA, GroenLinks and Volt will decide next week whether to officially submit the initiative proposal.
Source: Studio040
For Eindhoven News: Lila Mehrez
