Over 100 people attended the Conference Eurocare held in the European Parliament to mark the ”International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Awareness Day” on Wednesday 9th September 2009.

Hosted by the Swedish Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats

The Conference was jointly organized by Eurocare and the Swedish Presidency of the European Union to mark International Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Day.

This meeting brought together Public authorities and experts who shared their experiences and good practices, and discussed the different policy options to curb its incidence.

Click here to download the final conference report

Pictures from the event

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Presentations

Risks associated to prenatal exposure to alcohol

- Dr Diane Black: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) Foundation of the Netherlands

Dimension of the problem: alcohol consumption among pregnant women

- Italy: Prof. Mauro Ceccanti - Università La Sapienza di Roma and Centro di Riferimento Alcologico

- Spain: Dr Oriol Vall- Unitat de Recerca Infància i Entorn (URIE), Paediatric Service, Hospital del Mar

- Ireland: Dr Siobhan Barry - Coombe Women's Hospital in Dublin

What can be done?: Recommendations on effective measures to tackle the problem
- Dr Kieran O'Malley: Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Belfast Trust, Northern Ireland

Examples of good practices:

- Learning from other countries experiences:Catalonia (Spain) by Joan Colom (Department of Health. Government Catalonia); Poland by Mr Gorski and Magdalena Pietruska (PARPA)

- Evaluation Study of the French experience with the pictogram: Juliette Guillemont (INPEES - Institut national de prévention et d'éducation pour la santé)

- Evaluation of the UK labelling voluntary agreement: Don Shenker (Alcohol Concern)

- The experience of the Association of Swedish Midwives: Catharina Zatterstrom

- FAS policlinic (Germany): Dr. rer. med. Reinhold Feldmann
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Stockholm, 21 September 2009. Coinciding with the presentation by the European Commission of its Progress Report of the EU Alcohol Strategy, Eurocare has also wanted to give its views and has published a report that contains its recommendations for a sustainable EU Alcohol Strategy.

Click here to download the full report.

To prepare such report Eurocare has consulted its member organizations, the APN (Alcohol Policy Network), the EPHA alcohol working group and the AMPHORA research network regarding their assessment of the progress so far with the EU Alcohol Strategy. The report is based largely on their responses.

In the report Eurocare recognizes the difficulty of reconciling public health and commercial objectives in regard to alcohol products, a difficulty all too evident in the history of the development of the EU Alcohol Strategy. Eurocare congratulates the European Commission on pursuing the EU Alcohol Strategy despite strong opposition, and on finding a way of bringing together different parties with very different perspectives on the main issues.

Concerns remain about the role of the alcohol industry in the implementation of the Strategy, and the opportunities the industry is being given to obstruct progress and to divert attention to what the scientific evidence suggests are unproductive areas of activity. Eurocare members are also concerned over the developments in other directorates in the European Commission.

While Eurocare members very much agree with the priorities of the Strategy, they are doubtful that the present Strategy will by itself bring about significant reductions in levels of alcohol harm although they believe that it is an important first stage which requires further development.

In particular, Eurocare believes that the goal now should be to work towards setting specific targets for reductions in the harmful consumption of alcohol and in levels of harm.

Eurocare believes that the institutional response of the EU to alcohol harm would be strengthened by replacing the old Healthy Lifestyles committee under the Public Health Programme with a Substance Abuse Committee. This would be designed to provide a bridge between scientific research and policy making in regard to alcohol, other drugs and tobacco, areas of concern that are in fact interrelated in various ways.

The report includes a range of specific recommendations for the European Commission, Member States, economic operators and nongovernmental organizations.

Eurocare has also recommendations in regard to particular areas of policy such as alcohol taxation and product labeling. It believes that policy developments in regard to areas such as these would be greatly facilitated by the European Commission using its influence to bring about agreement on a standard unit of alcohol across all EU Member States.

There is a need for a common legal framework to support collective action across borders. Greater support from Europe should be given to the development of a World Health organization Global Strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol

The Dutch Institute for Alcohol policy (STAP) is organizing a small conference on 1- 2 October in Amsterdam on effective alcohol policies and community interventions.

As part of its contribution to the Building Capacity project STAP is to produce a manual for the development and implementation of effective local alcohol policy and community based interventions in Europe.

Speakers at the conference include a select group of experts and project leaders of local alcohol policy projects from Western Europe, among which Sven Andréasson and Marion Rackard.

The aim of the conference is to establish the unifying theme and overarching concepts for the manual, based on the newest theoretical insights and experiences from the field.

The impact of the national alcohol policy, political culture and other specific national characteristics of countries will be also discussed. The aim will be to identify the core elements of effective local alcohol policies that can be applied in any european country.

The manual will be presented at the 4th European Alcohol Policy Conference of organised by EUROCARE on 16-18 June 2010 in Brussels.

Europe's health Ministries have started discussing the Council Conclussions on the prevention and reduction of alcohol related harm on the 1 October.

The Council Conclussions are expected to follow Sweden's priority areas:

1) Alcohol advertising and commercial communications

2) Alcohol and ageing

3) Cross-border trade of alcoholic beverages

4) Harm caused by alcohol to the unborn child

Sweden, which holds the ratating EU presidency has prepared a draft document setting out the priorities.

According to EurActiv Sweden wants national governments to implement the EU alcohol strategy with renewed vigour and to incorporate new evidence on the role of pricing policy as an effective tool in curbing Europe's drinking habits. The Swedish presidency also wants Member States to support evidence-based preventative measures to reduce alcohol consumption during pregnancy and is calling for more research into the links between alcohol and the spread of infectious diseases, including HIV.

Sweden wants health ministers to put pressure on the EU executive to take further steps to protect young people from alcohol advertising. It wants a proactive approach to enforcing regulatory and self-regulatory codes on responsible marketing.

EurActiv points out that this is a hot topic in several countries where drinks companies sponsor high-profile sporting events, several of which attract a young audience.

Sweden intents to have an agreed set of conclusions by the time health ministers meet again on 1 December.

6 October 2009. As requested by the Swedish Presidency, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has presented its views on alcohol-related harm in European society. The EESC calls for stricter controls on alcohol marketing and pricing policies in order to reduce problems associated with alcohol consumption.

At its plenary session of 30 September 2009, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted the opinion on how to make the EU strategy on alcohol-related harm sustainable, long-term and multisectoral. The Opinion by rapporteur Ms Jillian van Turnhout (Chief Executive of the Children's Rights Alliance) by 128 votes in favour, 5 against and 4 abstentions.

The EESC's opinion supports the implementation of an EU horizontal strategy in order to fight against the health-related, social and economic consequences of alcohol abuse and to promote responsible alcohol consumption.

The EESC highlights that, in the EU, excessive alcohol consumption is responsible for approximately 195 000 deaths a year due to accidents, liver diseases, cancers and so forth. “Harmful alcohol use is the third biggest cause of early death and illness in the EU", stressed Ms van Turnhout.

The EESC opinion focuses on protecting children, who are particularly vulnerable to the problems caused by alcohol abuse. The rapporteur maintained that "in the EU, 5 to 9 million children in families are adversely affected by alcohol." Moreover, the marketing of alcoholic beverages increases the likelihood that children and adolescents will start to use alcohol, and will drink more if they are already using alcohol. In light of this, the EESC calls for a reduction in the exposure of children to alcohol marketing as well as more effective regulation of the availability and distribution of alcohol, as self-regulation in this area is not enough.

Apart from the medical consequences of alcohol abuse, the EESC emphasises the significance of other social and economic effects such as the increase in social costs due to health care and the loss of productivity. Ms van Turnhout also pointed out that "harmful alcohol consumption is a contributory factor for crime, violence and family deprivation, risky sexual behaviour and sexually transmitted diseases".

To raise awareness about the risk of Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), which includes all the birth defects caused by maternal consumption of alcohol during pregnancy, the EESC supports awareness-raising campaigns at national and EU level.

The full text of these opinions will soon be available in all EU languages on

http://eesc.europa.eu/documents/opinions/avis_en.asp

Click here to read the article that appeared in the Irish Examiner last week on this subject and where the rapporteur for the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Jillian van Turnhout, accused the alcohol industry of orchestraiting a campaign to destroy the report.

With the aim of supporting a sustainable, long-term and comprehensive strategy to reduce alcohol-related harm in the European Union the Swedish presidency organised on 21 and 22 September an Expert Conference on Alcohol and Health.

The Conference brought together 450 representatives from EU institutions and Member States, as well as from a range of stakeholder organisations.

The first day of the conference focused mainly on the protection of children, young people and unborn babies from alcohol-related harm (which is the number one goal of the EU Alcohol Strategy).

The conference discussed the harms that alcohol consumption during pregnancy causes to the unborn child as well as the issue of health warnings on alcohol containers. “Exposure to alcohol during fetal life may disturb the fine tuning that the wiring of the brain goes through at different levels,” said Professor Hugo Lagercrantz.

Advertising and marketing of alcohol

During the second part of the day the conference looked at ways of protecting children and young people from different forms of alcohol commercial communication.

“Evidence shows that alcohol marketing increases the likelihood that adolescents will start to use alcohol, and to drink more if they are already drinking,” said public health consultant Dr Peter Anderson.

There was also a discussion about forms of alcohol marketing communication beyond traditional advertising, such as new media and sponsorship.

A review of the research in this area and findings from research conducted by the Institute for Social Marketing was presented by Ross Gordon of the Institute for Social Marketing at the Open University and the University of Stirling.

Discussion on future self-regulation The programme included a workshop session on the Alcohol and Health Forum's Taskforce on Marketing Communication. During this session the effectiveness of self-regulation structures for marketing communication within the EU was debated.

The second day of the conference looked at the problems cause by alcohol among the elderly people.

The elderly are an often overlooked group. Increased awareness about the situation of the elderly was therefore one of the areas to receive particular attention. Dr Kieran Moriarty of Royal Bolton Hospital in the UK highlighted some of the difficulties in detection and barriers to treatment of older people. He also described the harmful effects of alcohol consumption on different systems of the body and why older people are particularly vulnerable.

The ageing population structure of Europe creates many health challenges, including an increase in the absolute number of older people consuming alcohol and dying as a result of harmful alcohol consumption. Mats Hallgren from Karolinska Institutet presented a report on recent developments in ten EU Member States.

Economic policy instruments to reduce alcohol-related harm

The afternoon session's discussions addressed pricing policies as an important element of cross-sectoral alcohol policy in the EU. The issues discussed included the effectiveness of general price increases, minimum retail prices and discount restrictions as means of reducing alcohol-related harm. The problems of cross-border trade were also addressed in the final presentation of the conference, Cross border trade with alcohol in the European Union.

Meeting conclusions

In concluding the conference, Minister for Elderly Care and Public Health Maria Larsson underlined four points that are also among the priorities of the Swedish Presidency. These were how alcohol affects children and the value of EU countries offering treatment and support to children growing up in families with alcohol misuse, the possibility of further regulation of marketing of alcoholic beverages, the increased consumption of alcohol among older people and the significance that the price of alcohol has for the level of consumption.

For more information:

Programme (in English and Swedish)

Webcast: Expert Conference on Alcohol and Health, 21 September

Power point presentations:
Opening speech by Ms Maria Larsson
Where do we Stand _ based on DG SANCO progress report on the EU Alcohol Strategy, Michael Hubel

WAYS TO PROTECT THE UNBORN CHILD

Making of the brain – critical windows during brain development, Hugo Lagercrantz
The French experience: Health Warning labels to raise awareness, Juliette Guillemont
Alcohol free pregnancies – Catalan Prevention Plan, Lidia Segura

WAYS TO PROTECT CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE

Children in families with alcohol problems, Kit Broholm
Health and School programme in Catalonia, Joan Colom
Plenary, 21 September, Robert Madelin

WAYS TO PROTECT CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE FROM THE DIFFERENT FORMS OF ALCOHOL COMMERCIAL COMMUNICATIONS
Impact of advertising on young people, Peter Andersson
Meaning-making process of alcohol use and alcohol commercials, Matilda Hellman
Protection of young people against irresponsible commercial communications, Ildiko Fazekas

ARE THERE ANY EFFECTIVE AWARENESS RAISING ACTIVITIES IN PLACE?

Alcohol marketing and young people, Ross Gordon
Social Marketing – a critical tool, Gerhard HastingsCan media take the role of health advocates, Andy Cook

ALCOHOL PROBLEMS AMONG THE ELDERLY

Alcohol-related problems among older people: Clinical features, presentations and vulnerability, Kieran Moriarty
Trends in alcohol consumption and harm among elderly Europeans, Mats Hallgren
Good Health into older age, Emanuele Scafato

Price policy – a tool to prevent alcohol-related harm

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of alcohol policies,, Petra Meier
The affordability of alcohol in Europe, Lila Rabinovich
Cross border trade with alcohol in the European Union, Esa Österberg

The European Commission's Directorate General for Health and Consumers (DG SANCO) has produced an initial status report on what has happened at EU and national level since the EU alcohol strategy was adopted in October 2006.

The status report was presented at the expert conference on alcohol and health organised by the Swedish presidency in cooperation with DG SANCO in September 2009.

The next progress report is due in 2012.

Click here to download the full progress report.

Executive Summary

Since the adoption of the Strategy, there has been considerable activity on the part of the Commission, the Member States and the wider stakeholders to set up the infrastructure for implementation.

DG Health and Consumers has focused on developing the appropriate structure for strategy implementation, with the aim to engage, or bring together relevant actors on specific priority topics.

The new structures include the Committee on National Alcohol Policy and Action, the European Alcohol and Health Forum and the Committee on Data Collection, Indicators and Definitions.

A number of other Community policy areas, such as Transport, have also taken concrete actions that contribute to the priority areas of the Alcohol Strategy.

A range of alcohol-focussed projects have been carried out under Community Health Programmes 2003-2008.

Across the EU Member States there has been a steady convergence of actions towards those identified as good practice. Most Member States now have a written alcohol policy in place.

There is a continuous trend towards an age limit of 18 years for selling and serving alcohol, and towards lowered Blood Alcohol Concentration limits for drivers of motorised vehicles. Annex 1 describes the development of policy and action in EU Member States.

Wider stakeholders have been engaged through the new European Alcohol and Health Forum. Members of the Forum include public health NGOs, alcohol manufacturers and producers and health professionals, and membership has grown to over 60. Members have launched over 100 commitments to act to reduce alcohol related harm, and a balanced group of Forum Members has closely explored a range of specific topics; such as marketing communication, national structures for self regulation, and youth.

The Forum's Science Group has adopted a scientific opinion on the relationship between marketing communication and the volume and pattern of young people alcohol consumption. This opinion is valuable for developing the next steps on this topic.

In conclusion, the recent activity makes for a promising start, but more needs to be done by all in the framework of the consensus strategic approach.

In addition, the recent financial crisis argues for a greater policy focus on specific aspects of alcohol policy, such as the relationship between alcohol consumption and health inequalities, if health outcomes are to improve.

The different political groups of the new European Parliament have appointed the draftspersons and shadow rapporteurs for the proposed regulation on the provision of food information to consumers.

The former Parliament had already started the debate on this issue but decided to postpone the adoption of a decision till the new Parliament had been elected, due to the sheer number of amendments tabled to the report prepared by the Rapporteur, MEP Renate Sommer (EPP, DE).

Ms Renate Sommer (EPP, DE) will be again the Rapporteur on this controversial dossier of labelling of foodstuffs (including alcoholic beverages).

Expected timeline for adoption:

The Draft report is expected by mid October. The first discussion in the leading Committee, the ENVI committee, will take place in November.

14/12/2009 Council: political agreement on common position expected

16/03/2010 EP: report scheduled for adoption in committee, 1st or single reading

19/04/2010 EP plenary sitting (indicative date)

Names of the shadow rapporteurs appointed by the different political parties:

Socialists: Glenis Willmott (S&D, UK)

Greens: Carl Schlyter (Greens/EFA, SE)

Liberals: Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (ALDE, NL)

Conservatives: Struan Stevenson (ECR, UK)

United Left: Kartika Tamara Liotard (GUE/NGL, NL)

The IMCO ( Internal Market and Consumer Protection) committee and the AGRI committee will also be giving their opinion on this proposal.

The draftpersons in these committees will be;

IMCO: Christel Schaldemose (S&D,

AGRI: Marc Tarabella (S&D, BE)

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/file.jsp?id=5592852

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The Council took note of the Presidency progress report on the proposal for a Regulation on the provision of food information to consumers (labelling), which briefly describes the state of play of the discussions within the Council's preparatory bodies on this complex legislative dossier ( Council doc. 10641/09).

The examination of the file continues during the Swedish Presidency in order to reach an agreement within the Council, while awaiting the outcome of the European Parliament's first reading.

Follow the link to access the summary report and presentations from the 5th meeting of the DG SANCO Committee on National Alcohol Policy and Action, which took place from June 24 – 25 2009.

Consultation period: 25/09/2009 - 20/11/2009

Fill out the Questionnaire

Objectives of the consultation

This consultation aims at engaging the European citizens and stakeholders in governments at national, regional and local levels, as well as the business and professional sectors, in identifying the key road safety problems to be addressed by the European Road Safety Action Programme for the period 2011 – 2020 and the priority actions which could be taken to address the unacceptable and costly levels of road death and serious injury across the EU.

Involvement in a road traffic crash is the leading cause of death and hospital admission for citizens of the European Union (EU) under 45 years. With 39,000 road traffic deaths in 2008 and socio-economic costs of around 2% of GDP (€180 billion), road safety continues to be a priority area for action in the EU.

The aim of this consultation is therefore to get the views from stakeholders on how to best tackle the key road safety problems. For this purpose, the questionnaire attached contains a listing of the main problem areas and of possible ways of dealing with the problems concerned.

Apart from filling in the questionnaire, respondents may also send separate comments to the European Commission (TREN-ROAD-SAFETY-ACTION-PROGRAMME) but the main analysis of this internet consultation will be based on the responses to the questions raised in the questionnaire.

To mark the 10th anniversary of its creation the Directorate-General for Health and Consumers (DG SANCO) is launching an on-line discussion on European health and consumer policy. A dedicated channel on the Debate Europe forum will be open in all EU official languages from 14 September to 9 October 2009.

This debate will provide Europeans with a good opportunity to make their voices heard on health and consumer policy and share their views with others. They will be able to vote in an online opinion poll and learn more about what the EU is doing in this area.

The conclusions of the online debate will be presented at a special anniversary seminar on 23 October 2009, which will be attended by current and former Commissioners, stakeholders and the media.

The online discussion will be available via the Debate Europe forum on: http://europa.eu/debateeurope.

5 October 2009. The European Commission has today decided to close an investigation into Uruguay's taxation regime on spirits, following the removal of unfair barriers to the sale of European spirits in the country. The investigation had been opened under the EU Trade Barriers Regulation (TBR) following a complaint by the Scotch Whisky industry. The Commission's enquiry led to changes in the Uruguayan legislation without resorting to WTO dispute settlement. EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton said: "The focus of EU trade policy is to create real benefit for businesses, workers and consumers. I am delighted that we have solved this issue without having to resort to WTO litigation." On 2 September 2004, the Scotch Whisky Association lodged a complaint alleging that sales of Scotch whisky in Uruguay were hindered by various obstacles to trade, notably a discriminatory excise tax. During the investigation conducted by the European Commission the Uruguayan authorities expressed their willingness to seek a mutually satisfactory solution, and proposed to settle the case on the basis of various elements, notably the legislation on excise taxes. The main trade barrier subject to investigation was the discriminatory excise tax in Uruguay (IMESI - Impuesto Especifico Interno). Instead of using the actual transaction value of the spirits at the point of first sale as the taxable base, the spirits were divided into groups ("categorias") on a price-per-litre basis. They were then assigned a price (determined by the Uruguayan authorities) upon which the excise tax was levied, putting the EU products in the highest-priced category. In the new legislation, in light of the agreed settlement to the case, the tax is determined by adding a fixed value to a tax on value of the product, which means that there is a single tax rate and the discrimination is removed. The volume and value of exports of Scotch whisky to Uruguay have increased by more than 30% since the entry into force of the revised legislation. Aside from the issue of taxation, other barriers included (1) lack of transparency and predictability of Uruguayan excise taxes in general, (2) exclusion of whiskies matured for three or more years from the lowest category of taxation (per EC Regulation as of July 2000 all EU whiskies must be matured for at least three years, while all whiskies produced in Uruguay are aged less than three years), (3) requirement to affix tax stamps on imported whiskies, (4) requirement to pre-pay excise taxes at the time of customs clearance. All of these barriers have been addressed. Background The TBR has become an important part of EU trade policy, as it allows the Commission to work with businesses to identify and address the barriers that matter most to them. The TBR has been in force since January 1995 and permits any EU enterprise or association to lodge a complaint with the Commission which will then investigate and seek to remove barriers inconsistent with international trade rules (those of the WTO and other international agreements). Since 1995, more then 20 TBR examination procedures have been initiated, and the TBR has been successful in obtaining the removal of illegal barriers in a broad range of sectors including textiles, steel, music, spirits, automobile, and shipbuilding and against a broad range of countries including the United States, Brazil, South Korea and Uruguay.

On 8 October 2009 the WHO will hold an informal consultation meeting with Member States in Geneva.

The meeting will discuss the feedback from Member States on the Working document for developing a draft global strategy to reduce harmful use of alcohol.

The working document reflects the outcomes of the consultations held with Member States and other stakeholders. And it provides background information, the aims and objectives, and target areas for action by Member States.

Member States' feedback on the content of the working document will help to shape the draft global strategy which will be submitted to the Executive Board at its 126th session in January 2010.

After three readings in both chambers, the Swiss Parliament has agreed to lift the ban on alcohol advertisements on TV.

The lift of the ban was a condition imposed by the EU representatives during the negotiation of a Media-Agreement that will allow Switzerland to profit from film sponsoring.

Alcohol advertising has always been banned from Swiss Television.

http://www.alkoholpolitik.ch/2009/09/25/now-alcohol-ads-on-swiss-tv-because-of-eu-law/6405/

On 22 July 2009 the French Government has adopted a new law in an attempt to tackle the problem of binge drinking among youths.

The new law bans the sale of alcohol to under 18s anywhere in France.

Before the law there was a grey area surrounding sales of alcoholic drinks to teenagers aged 16 to 18, with different rules depending on the kind of alcohol and whether the sales point was a bar, a club or a supermarket.

The new bill also bans promotions known as "open bar" which allow customers to drink as much as they want to for a fixed price.

”These are a classic at student parties and encourage binge drinking," the French Health Minister, Ms Bachelot said.

Drinking alcohol in public places close to schools is also forbidden.

Another measure introduced by the law is a ban on sales of alcohol in petrol stations. Such a ban existed before only from 10 pm to 6 am.

This new rule should help curb drunk driving.

Regrettably the law now allows alcohol advertising on the internet, with the only exception of those websites that are mainly aimed at young people and those owned by sport organisations. Internet advertisements will have to fulfil the same requirements that apply to those in the written press and billboards under the loi Evin.

The number of under-25s hospitalized because of excessive drunkenness had doubled between 2004 and 2007.

* The Loi Evin prohibited Alcohol Sponsorship and also banned alcohol advertising on TV and cinemas as well as on youth magazines.

Articles in the press:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3371806.ece

http://www.euronews.net/2009/03/10/french-vote-in-stricter-alcohol-laws/

Parents whose children are caught in possession of alcohol or drinking in public will get a fine of up to €900 under an emergency law designed to reduce binge drinking in Italy.

As it announced the move, Milan city council revealed that 34 per cent of 11-year-olds in the city had “problems with alcohol”. This is the first of its kind in Italy.

Letizia Moratti, the centre-right Mayor of Milan, said that “this is not a punitive measure,” but “a message to young people and their families that alcohol is bad for you and that alcohol abuse and dependence lead to negative consequences.”

An Italian law already bans the sale of alcohol to those under 16 in bars and discos but it is poorly enforced.

The Health Ministry said that most Italians had their first encounter with alcohol at the age of 12, two to three years earlier than in most European countries.

A sixth of hospital admissions for alcohol abuse involved youngsters under 14.

Six out of ten young Italians told pollsters that they set out to “drink themselves into a stupor”.

Bars frequented by young people, especially in northern regions such as Lombardy and Piedmont, have begun to serve drinks such as wine spritzers laced with vodka or other spirits. T

he new regulation came into force on 20 July for a trial period of 120 days.

The fine, which increases to €500 if not paid within five days, also applies to suppliers of alcohol to children.

Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, encouraged other cities to follow the “excellent example” of Milan.

The Pope, on holiday in the Italian Alps, urged young people to “overcome the temptation of an easy and illusory life”.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6719699.ece

The Estonian government agreed on 24 September to increase the excise tax on alcohol and tobacco on the next state budget 2010.

http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/markets_and_companies/?doc=18634

The World Health Organisation has just launched two reports:

- Handbook for action to reduce alcohol-related harm which aims to assist policy makers to review plans to further reduce the harm caused by alcohol. The ten areas for action include pricing, availability and marketing.

- Evidence for the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of interventions to reduce alcohol-related harm. The report reviews what is known and not known about the health, social and economic impact of a number of different interventions.

The Scottish Government has just published its report on Minimum Pricing & Discount Ban Appraisal.

The report highlights the huge impact that a minimum price could have – estimated to be £950 million worth of savings in health spending, criminal justice and employment if a 40p per unit minimum price was adopted.

The report can be downloaded from http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/Recent

07 September 2009. Faced with the continuously rising number of alcohol-related illnesses and deaths, especially among young people, the doctors demand a prohibition of all types of marketing campaigns launched by the alcohol industry. This should include the ever-growing branch of indirect marketing, as for example through the sponsorship of sport teams or events, which is seen to ‘normalise' the consumption of alcohol and equate it with other foodstuffs.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has released a report that examines the damaging effect of alcohol marketing on young people. The aim of the report is to identify effective ways of protecting young people from the influence of alcohol promotion and marketing, thereby redressing the excessively pro-alcohol social norms to which they are exposed.

Alcohol consumption in the UK has increased rapidly in recent years, not just among young people, but across society. The population is drinking in increasingly harmful ways and the result is a range of avoidable medical, psychological and social harm, damaged lives and early deaths. As consumption has increased, the market for alcohol has grown substantially. This has been driven by vast promotional and marketing campaigns with the UK alcohol industry spending approximately £800m annually.

Alcohol marketing communications have a powerful effect on young people and come in many forms. These include traditional advertisements on television through ubiquitous ambient advertising to new media such as social network sites and viral campaigns. The cumulative effect of this promotion is to reinforce and exaggerate strong pro-alcohol social norms. Beyond marketing communications companies use integrated consumer marketing strategies including pricing, distribution and product design to develop and manage brands. Stakeholder marketing, including partnership working and industry-funded health education, is also used by the alcohol industry as a means to influence policy makers and regulators.

The BMA also affirmed its calls for minimum prices for alcohol, including a prohibition of rebate promotion activities such as happy hours, an increase in tax on alcohol, and the scaling down of licensing hours.

While the Department of Health is showing its willingness to adopt a law on minimum prices, it also highlights the non-legislative activities such as the ‘Know Your Limits' campaign as an effective intervention on drinking habits and remains reluctant to adopt binding regulations on other issues. Further opposition to the BMA's demands is met in the Wine and Spirit Trade Association which points to the impact such bans would have on the labour market and the success of industry-funded campaigns with are already in existence.

Download full report Under the influence (1578k)

Articles in the press: click here to read the full article from the BBC

Related articles in the press

The Publican (UK) - BMA comes under fire over "joke" evidence in alcohol report
An academic has branded evidence used by the British Medical Association (BMA) in calling for a ban on alcohol advertising as “folk assumptions” based on studies that are a “joke”.
http://www.thepublican.com/story.asp?sectioncode=7&storycode=65171&c=1

Whyte & Mackay yesterday confirmed a proposal to shed up to one sixth of its Scottish workforce, citing the recession and the "punitive UK legislative climate" as factors

Source: The Scotsman. Read full article

Source: EurActiv. The Swedish health ministry has rubbished claims by Europe's beer industry that the country's alcohol policy has led to increased consumption and boosted illegal trade.

Full article at EurActiv.com

The Brewers of Europe is circulating a new report by the Swedish Retail Institute which claims "the Swedish authorities have lost control over a large part of the alcohol trade". This comes as the Nordic country, which currently holds the EU's six-month rotating presidency, steps up its efforts to reform European alcohol policy.

The controversial report, commissioned by the Brewers of Europe, says Sweden's "restrictive alcohol policy with high prices and taxes" has failed to reduce alcohol abuse and fostered a booming underground trade in cheap beer.

The availability of alcohol to young people is greater than ever, according to the report, which alleges that "criminal organisations have gained a hold on alcohol distribution".

The claims were dismissed by Maria Renström, director of the public health division of Sweden's Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, who said per capita alcohol consumption had increased from 1995 to 2004 but has since decreased.
"Sweden is still among the countries with a low per capita consumption in Europe," she said.

Renström insisted the brewers' suggestion that illegal imports have dramatically increased was not correct. "There is no evidence of any huge increase. The fact is more that private imports have decreased by around 30%, mostly due to the weak Swedish currency," she said.

The secretary-general of the Brewers of Europe, Rodolphe de Looz-Corswarem, said Sweden's policies had led to a "black market", where huge quantities of imported alcohol are resold for far below the normal Swedish market price.

Sweden hit back by saying it conducts rigorous ongoing monitoring of alcohol imports, sales and consumption. "We have broad control of the development," said Renström.

"And there is nothing indicating that alcohol consumption has increased in the population, which would have been the case if the illegal alcohol trade [had] increased. Sweden has a comprehensive alcohol policy with all sectors involved. Police, customs and taxation authorities are cooperating and for the moment they have increased their actions," she said.
The row between the current EU presidency and the industry has been fermenting for months as brewers seek to mount a defence against Sweden's alleged desire to curb alcohol advertising and increased prices.

As part of its campaign, the Brewers of Europe also published a report by Ernst & Young highlighting the major contribution that the beer industry makes to European economies. That report reveals a significant growth in the number of SMEs in the brewing sector, with the number of smaller breweries increasing by 25% since 2006.

The Ernst & Young report showed Europe remains the world's largest producer of beer, despite the economic downturn and stiff competition from the Chinese and American brewing industries.

The brewers said the industry provides 2.5 million jobs in Europe, when indirect employment is included. The production and sale of beer brings €59 billion to Europe's economy, with a further €57 billion collected by governments in beer tax revenues.
This too was rebutted by Sweden, which pointed to a 2003 report compiled when the EU executive adopted its alcohol policy, and which estimated the total tangible cost of alcohol in Europe to be €125 billion.

Swedish official Renström said the priority during Stockholm's spell at the EU's helm would be to strengthen and implement the bloc's alcohol strategy, which focuses on reducing harm to young people and the elderly.

Sweden has also initiated a discussion on ways to improve the protection of children from alcohol marketing, "and to increase knowledge of effective measures, for example the tool price policy," she said.

According to Renström, Sweden has no intention of harmonising EU alcohol policy and would not propose any new regulation at EU level.

"The intention is to build on consensus, exchange of good practices, build a common knowledge base and the protection of public health within all policy areas," she said.

(Source: EuroActiv) Efforts by Sweden to tackle alcohol abuse in Europe look set to come to the boil during the latter half of its six-month EU presidency. The drinks industry is gearing up for a counter-offensive against an expected push to increase prices and restrict alcohol advertising.

Full Article at EurActive.com

In a press release from September 8 2009 the Brewers of Europe have criticised Swedish alcohol policy for failing “to lower abusive drinking”.

See below the text of the press release.

The restrictive Swedish alcohol policy with high prices and taxes for alcohol has failed to meet the claimed objective of reducing both overall alcohol consumption and excessive drinking patterns, a new report commissioned by The Brewers of Europe has illustrated.

According to the report conducted by the Swedish Retail Institute (HUI), the current restrictive Swedish alcohol policy has resulted in numerous shortcomings and among the key findings have been the following.

The Swedish alcohol policy generates, via the high alcohol taxes, significant assets for the Swedish public treasury, although high taxes are obviously generated only by products purchased legally in Sweden.

As an instrument for keeping alcohol consumption low, the trends in recent years show that it has not succeeded.

Today's situation is far from the objectives that the Swedish alcohol policy is aiming to achieve Imports are essentially free and huge quantities of imported alcohol are resold in the illegal trade.

This, in combination with the fact that the availability of alcohol to young people is greater than ever before and criminal organisations have gained a hold on alcohol distribution makes the situation untenable.

To say that the Swedish authorities have lost control over a large part of the alcohol trade is, thus, hardly an exaggeration.

Commenting on the publication of the report today in Brussels, The Brewers of Europe Secretary General Rodolphe de Looz-Corswarem stated, “The findings by HUI on the approach adopted by Sweden show that it has often resulted in a black market being created where huge quantities of imported alcohol are resold for far below the normal Swedish market price. HUI also conclude that the Swedish authorities have basically lost control over a large part of the alcohol trade and that this, in combination with the fact that the availability of alcohol to young people in Sweden is greater than ever before, makes the situation and policy questionable.”

Rodolphe de Looz-Corswarem concluded, “Interestingly enough, the very significant increase in overall alcohol consumption in Sweden over the last 15 years, i.e. up 30%, has not lead to the same extent to negative health effects as claimed by proponents of the ‘lower consumption equals lower-risk theory.'This to us in the brewing sector proves again that lowering overall consumption as a means to reducing harm is not a sustainable strategy.”

Click here to access the HUI study.

Click here to see the response from the Swedish Ministry

9 September 2009. In a press release the European Sponsorship Association (ESA), which represents the sponsorship industry, has strongly defended sponsorship by alcohol brands and insisted that a ban would seriously damage the sponsorship industry, sport and other areas currently supported by the alcohol industry.

The press release stated that the alcohol sector is currently the 5th largest in the sponsorship industry and if this vital support was to disappear, essential funding for several events would disappear with it.

A pan-European survey amongst sports and cultural rights holders and governing bodies was completed earlier this year by ESA. The results showed according to ESA that there was widespread self-regulation, with most bodies having their own policy on how they worked with any sponsor to promote responsible drinking.

ESA reiterated that sponsorship can offer many advantages to sports clubs - from support at grassroots to the most elite clubs - and cultural groups and that with the industry so well self-regulated and alcohol companies using their campaigns to promote responsible drinking, society can receive many benefits from their support.

The industry funded International Centre for Alcohol Policies (ICAP), in collaboration with the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA), the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), and the International Advertising Association (IAA), have published two new guides on self-regulation of advertising:

- International Guide to Developing a Self-regulatory Organisation, which offers advice and guidance to those who are contemplating setting up a self-regulatory system or improving one that already exists.

- The Alcohol Module which examines advertising self-regulatory standards related to beverage alcohol. It is designed to help parties interested in setting up a self-regulatory organization to take into account the specifics of alcohol advertising, provides an overview of the main rules applicable to this product category, and identifies available international sources of information about alcohol advertising.

Please click here to access the publications.

5 August 2009 Is there any proposal to ban alcohol advertising during certain hours either on a voluntary or mandatory basis?

Answer given by Mrs Vassiliou on behalf of the Commission

Assuming that the Honourable Member of the Parliament is referring, at least in part, to alcohol advertising on television, the answer to her question would be as follows:

At EU-level the legal framework for alcohol advertising on television is laid down in Directive No 89/552/EEC[1][1], as last amended by Directive No 2007/65/EC[2][2] (henceforth "AVMSD").

The new Article 3e stipulates that "audiovisual commercial communications for alcoholic beverages shall not be aimed specifically at minors and shall not encourage immoderate consumption of such beverages".

Like the other provisions contained in the amending Directive, this Article will have to be implemented by Member States as from 19 December 2009.

Moreover, the current Article 15, which continues to apply to broadcast ("television") services, remains unchanged. It contains a number of restrictions concerning television advertising for alcohol:

"Television advertising and teleshopping for alcoholic beverages shall comply with the following criteria:

(a) it may not be aimed specifically at minors or, in particular, depict minors consuming these beverages;

(b) it shall not link the consumption of alcohol to enhanced physical performance or to driving;

(c) it shall not create the impression that the consumption of alcohol contributes towards social or sexual success;

(d) it shall not claim that alcohol has therapeutic qualities or that it is a stimulant, a sedative or a means of resolving personal conflicts;

(e) it shall not encourage immoderate consumption of alcohol or present abstinence or moderation in a negative light;

(f) it shall not place emphasis on high alcoholic content as being a positive quality of the beverages."

The Commission is currently not proposing to ban alcohol advertising during certain hours, either on a voluntary basis or a mandatory basis.

However, Member States may adopt stricter rules than the ones contained in the AVMSD provided that such provisions are otherwise compatible with Community law and, notably, remain proportionate to the objective of general interest pursued. Many Member States have done so.

Broadcasting times under which (certain types of) alcoholic beverages may be advertised are restricted in 16 Member States, and aim at reducing the exposure of children to alcohol advertising. Finland (2007), Lithuania (2008) and the Netherlands (2009) are the most recent to have introduced a television watershed which prohibits alcohol advertisements between specified times in the early morning and in the evening. In these three countries the specified times are successively 07:00-21:00, 06:00-23:00, and 06:00-21:00.

22 September 2009

Could the Commission indicate what action it is taking to reduce the prevalence of FASD, with particular emphasis on adequate labelling and warning systems?

Could the Commission indicate whether or not it supports the classification of alcohol as a drug, which would institute best‑practice standards for corporate and social responsibility?

8 September 8 2009

Please note that the question below will be answered at the next plenary session.

It is nearly three years since we adopted the EU's alcohol strategy. The intention was that it should be assessed by the summer of 2009. I understand that the Commission has opted to postpone this assessment. Why has the strategy not been assessed? When can we expect an assessment of the EU's alcohol strategy? How has the Commission supervised the implementation of the strategy in the various Member States?

1 September 2009

Could the Commission outline what efforts it is taking in order to combat the prevalence of drug driving in the EU?