Yes, it is extended. Article 109 of the Regulation on Official Announcements and Advertisements deals with the point directly, and its heading says as much: Extension, completion and termination of the waiting period. The first paragraph is clear: where the conditions determined by the General Assembly are not met during the waiting period, the period is extended.
The extension is calculated day by day
The extension is not a fixed penalty period; it equals the number of days the breach lasted. That is the same logic as suspension of the right to publish (Art. 110(2)): the sanction is tied not to the gravity of the breach but to its duration.
| Situation | Extension |
|---|---|
| Conditions met without interruption | None |
| A breach lasting 5 days | Extended by 5 days |
| 20 days of breach in total during the year | Extended by 20 days |
That provision makes the waiting period something other than passive waiting. You cannot simply let a 24-month period run its course; the conditions must be met every day, or the end date moves later.
Delaying the inspection request also extends the period
Article 109(4) introduces a second ground of extension. Under Article 15 an inspection must be requested within three months at the latest of the request to publish official announcements reaching the Agency’s records. Where that period is exceeded, the time elapsed is added to the waiting period.
How completion is established
A waiting period does not simply “expire”; its completion must be established. Paragraphs two and three of Article 109 set the procedure:
- A signed request from the newspaper or online news site is required at the end of the waiting period.
- The inspection fee is paid.
- The date on which the waiting period was completed is established by the resulting inspection.
- Where the conditions determined by the General Assembly are met at the end of the waiting period, the period is completed.
Termination: the gravest outcome
The fifth paragraph, added to Article 109 by the 2025 amendment, provides for a far heavier consequence than extension: where, in periodicals that have applied for a waiting period to be started or for which a waiting period has been started, the situations set out in Article 113 are established, the waiting period is terminated.
Article 16(3) explains how that calculation is made: in respect of publications 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.
Distinguish the three outcomes
| Situation | Consequence | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Breach of a condition during the waiting period | Extension by the number of days of breach | Art. 109(1) |
| Exceeding the three months for the inspection request | The time elapsed is added; a new start is determined | Art. 109(4) |
| Establishment of a situation set out in Article 113 | Treated as never having applied; the period is terminated | Art. 109(5) |
Conclusion
The waiting period is extended by the number of days on which a breach of conditions occurred (Art. 109(1)). If the three months allowed for requesting an inspection are exceeded, the time elapsed is added to the waiting period (Art. 109(4)). If the situations in Article 113 are established, the period is not extended but terminated altogether (Art. 109(5)).
The circumstances in which the right ends are covered in the loss of right guide and the start of the period in the start date guide.