Industry relief about EU alcohol strategy 

The Commission adopted, on 24 October 2006, a Communication on reducing alcohol related harm in Europe. The document sets out five priorities to fight against alcohol abuse:

• protection of young people and children; 
• reduction of alcohol-related road accidents; 
• reduction of the negative impact on the economy; 
• raising awareness of health impacts of alcohol abuse, and; 
• collection and dissemination of reliable data. 

"Binge drinking, under-age drinking and drink-driving are real public health issues in Europe, especially among young people. The Commission is not targeting moderate alcohol consumption, but seeks to actively support member states' measures to reduce the harm caused by alcohol abuse," said Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou, adding that the Commission's role on the issue will be limited to complementing national strategies in this area - promoting co-operation, exchange of good practices between the EU-25 and financing projects through the Public Health Programme.

Commissioner Kyprianou also called the industry to promote responsible drinking and improve consumer information and said the Commission would support this process by promoting co-operation between relevant stakeholders and funding projects in this area.

The industry generally welcomes the Commission communication, especially its focus on alcohol misuse rather than alcohol per se. Industry is also pleased that he Communication respects different cultural habits and, thus member state subsidiarity on this policy area:

The European Spirits Organisation (CEPS) welcomes "the recognition the Communication gives to the role the alcohol industry can play in reducing alcohol related harm, most notably in terms of promoting responsible consumption. The five priority themes proposed are entirely consistent with CEPS’ Charter on Responsible Alcohol Consumption," said Jamie Fortescue, Director General of CEPS. 

The European Forum for Responsible Drinking (EFRD) "applauds the Commission for rejecting attempts to hijack the strategy by those who advocated a biased view of the evidence base and for recognising the positive role that industry can play in being part of the solution to alcohol-related harm," said Alan Butler, EFRD Chairman. EFRD is, however, concerned that warning labels and de facto restrictions on commercial communications could surface during the implementation phase. "We urge the Commission to exercise caution in compiling the evidence base in support of these policy options and reject such arbitrary measures," said Butler.

The European Alcohol Policy Alliance (EUROCARE), an alliance of 46 NGOs working on the prevention and reduction of alcohol related harm in Europe, is "sad to see that despite the efforts of the European Health Community and DG SANCO to protect the health and wellbeing of European citizens, in the end, the alcohol industry and other parts of the Commission have ensured that the strategy reflects the undue influence of the alcohol industry, which has been responsible for one of the most intensive lobbying campaigns ever known in regard to public health policy". 

"Given that the industry has made it abundantly clear that it is opposed to the whole idea of a public health strategy on alcohol, how can it possibly be seen as a main collaborator in implementing it," said Andrew McNeill, Honorary Secretary of EUROCARE. 

Public health specialist Dr. Peter Anderson, author of the Alcohol in Europe -report said the proposed EU alcohol policy is "much weaker than the first draft and has a much greater focus on education as the answer to solving the problems of alcohol, when the evidence shows that it does not work". He regrets that measures that could have made a real difference such as a "better regulation of the product and its marketing", were no longer in the text of the Communication.

The EU-25's positions on combating alcohol related harm vary a lot. The Nordic countries are often those calling for strict measures, whereas Mediterranean countries claim a more relaxed policy. "This reflects the different national practices and legislation," commented an official from the Finnish permanent representation. "Alcohol policy is a national competence and each member state has its way of dealing with alcohol-related harm. One of the ways is to use the alcohol tax revenue to actions aimed at combating alcohol abuse and related health and social harm," added the official. 

The Commission considers that its main contribution to the strategy should be based on the existing approach of complementing national strategies in this area and therefore does not intend to implement the strategy through specific new legislative proposals.

A recent study entitled Alcohol in Europe , conducted by the  Institute of Alcohol Studies for the Commission, argues that many aspects of drinking are much more similar across Europe than commonly believed. Especially adolescent binge drinking has increased in most countries in the 1990s. A document on stakeholders views, linked to this study, says that both governmental organisations and non-governmental organisations see industry lobbying as the dominant barrier to effective policy to reduce alcohol-related harm, due to both the prioritisation of economic over health interests and attempts to direct policy towards particular policy measures.