Eurocare's views on the implementation of the EU Alcohol Strategy

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