The answer is no. Article 16 of the Regulation on Official Announcements and Advertisements is clear on the point: a newspaper or online news site made subject to a waiting period in order to acquire the right to publish official announcements may not publish official announcements before that period expires. Otherwise the sanctions laid down in Law No. 195 apply.

The waiting period is not passive waiting

The prohibition is not one-way. The second paragraph of the same article provides that obligations continue throughout the period: newspapers within the waiting period must publish in conformity with the publication interval stated in the declaration given under Law No. 5187, online news sites must publish so as to meet the accessibility requirements set out in the Regulation, and both must maintain all the other qualifications sought.

Continuity thresholds also run during the waiting period

The third paragraph introduces a technical provision with heavy consequences: in respect of newspapers or online news sites within the waiting period, the first paragraph of Article 113 is applied by reference to the start date of the waiting period instead of the calendar year.

Article 113 lists the circumstances in which the right to publish comes to an end, and among them are thresholds for interrupting publication. Normally those thresholds are calculated within a calendar year; for a publication in the waiting period they are calculated from the start of that period.

So what may be published?

The prohibition concerns official announcements. You are not prevented from publishing private announcements and advertising; your commercial activity may continue. Distinguishing whether a notice counts as an official announcement, a private announcement or an advertisement is particularly important in this period.

Under Article 11(1)(a) an application may request publication of “official announcements and advertisements” or of “advertisements only”. Where your request concerns advertisements only, the conditions and the process applicable to you are assessed accordingly.

Conclusion

Publishing official announcements before the waiting period expires is prohibited and gives rise to the sanctions in Law No. 195. Throughout the period you must publish in conformity with your publication interval, meet the accessibility requirements and maintain all the qualifications sought. The continuity thresholds also operate in this period, calculated from the start of the waiting period.

When the period starts is covered in the start date guide and the periods themselves in the periods guide.