Call for Abstracts for the First European Conference on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, to be held in the Netherlands from November 3 to 5, 2010.

The European Commission has decided to appoint Mr Robert Madelin as Director-General of the DG for Information Society and Media, to replace Mr Fabio Colasanti, who will retire on 1 April.

92.9 % of Spanish students say that access to drugs is very easy, according to a new study about students and drugs carried out by the Spanish university “Universidad Pablo de Olavide” in Seville

A new and updated edition of the book Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity is now available from Oxford University Press, written by an international group of alcohol researchers under the leadership of Professor Thomas Babor. The Second Edition of Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity has the same scope as the first in 2003; a guide to understanding alcohol-related harm and how such harm can be effectively prevented by policy interventions. The authors describe the conceptual basis for a rational alcohol policy and present new epidemiological data on the global dimensions of alcohol misuse.

Thailand has notified World Trade Organisation members of its plans to introduce rotating pictorial warnings on alcohol containers.

See response from the EU Commission below

Today the UK government by Chancellor Alistair Darling has revealed its 2010 budget introducing measures to reduce and prevent alcohol-related harm.

Today, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway signed an agreement with the European Union on continued EEA and Norway Grants for the period 2009-14.

Within the framework of the European Alcohol and Health Forum a 3rd Open Forum will be held in Brussels (Charlemagne Building of the European Commission) on 22 April 2010 from 10h00 till 17h00.

On the 4th of March 2010 the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled against the legislation in France, Austria and Ireland fixing minimum retail prices for cigarettes. In the Court’s opinion Public health objectives can be attained by an increase in excise duty.

Eurocare would like to congratulate and welcome John Dalli as the new Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy.