Commission welcomes Council and Parliament approval of new spirit drinks Regulation

Brussels, 17 December. European Union agriculture ministers have reached political agreement on the new Spirit Drinks regulation sealing a first reading agreement between the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. The new regulation sets out definitions for all spirit drinks and should help producers market their products while providing new clarity for consumers. The regulation combines two previous regulations and adapts the rules to take into account technical changes, WTO requirements and the EU's system of geographical indications.

Although the introduction of the Parliament's resolution establishes that the measures applicable to the spirits drinks should contribute to the attainment of a high level of consumer protection, the text is quite limited in terms of specifics. It makes no reference to warning labels on any sort, nor does it reference labels informing the consumer about allergens, ingredients, nutrition facts or alcohol strength.

Eurocare believes that all beverages containing alcohol should have labeling that includes food improvement agents, as well as sulphites and any other ingredients that might lead to allergies. Consumers have a right to know what is in the drink as well as what has been added to it. Alcoholic products should also contain information on the total grams of alcohol in the container, not simply on the concentration of alcohol (% by volume) as this is difficult to understand for the average consumer.

Since the Commission tabled its proposal on 15 December 2005, there have been intensive discussions in both the Parliament and Council. The Commission notified the file to the WTO. No major reservations were expressed by the EU's trading partners. On 19 June 2007, the European Parliament backed the General Approach in a First Reading. The Commission also endorsed the Council compromise as voted for by the European Parliament, clearing the way for the political agreement in the Council meeting.

REGULATION (EC) No 110/2008 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 15 January 2008 on the definition, description, presentation, labelling and the protection of geographical indications of spirit drinks and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 1576/89

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:039:0016:0054:EN:PDF