It is early evening in the Lorenzon household in central Stockholm. The Lorenzon children - sisters Kaisa, aged eight, Naima, aged three, and their brother Axel, aged five - are avid television viewers.

Under Swedish law, though, they cannot watch advertisements for toys, food or beverages which appeal to children under 12 years of age.

Their mother, Marita, and their father, Leif, support laws which they say are aimed at protecting their vulnerable children.

"Basically my children are less exposed to the commercial world," Mr Lorenzon says.

"We live in a commercial world, yes. One day they will be extremely exposed to this. In our living room, there is no need for that," he says.

The Swedish Government takes up the presidency of the European Union in just over a year, and intends to press for its strict controls on advertising to be extended to the rest of Europe.

But even in Sweden the question remains as to whether the ban - introduced in 1991 - really is in the long term interests of children who must one day face the realities of commercialism.

Toy industry unimpressed

The toy industry is, of course, utterly opposed.

In one of his chain of toyshops, Per Sparre, of the Swedish Association of Toy Retailers, says that parents and children should not be allowed to duck the real world.

"It is how you live yourself and the example you set for the children. You don't need to buy everything you see. You don't need to have everything."

Toy advertisers also argue that the quality of commercial television will be hit if broadcasters are denied the valuable advertising revenue.

The Swedish Government is unfazed. Culture Minister Marita Ulvskog, who is also the mother of a toddler, does not think much of the motives of the advertisers who she calls abusers.

"They are trying to reach my wallet through my four-year-old child and I do not want them to be allowed to do that."

The toy industry is in for a fight as Sweden goes on the offensive to persuade us all that the commercial-free space given to the Lorenzons is good for families across Europe.