Bid to restrict alcohol adverts under fire

Date: 11/11/1999

By Peter Chapman

PLANS drawn up by officials in the European Commission's health department to combat advertising aimed at tempting youngsters into drinking alcohol have run into fierce opposition from within the institution and the drinks industry.

Under the proposals drafted while former Health Commissioner Padraig Flynn was still in office, drinks firms in all 15 EU member states would be asked to draw up voluntary codes of conduct to promote responsible advertising campaigns. These codes would outlaw adverts which encouraged youngsters to consume alcohol by, for example, linking consumption of an alcoholic drink to sexual success or social status.

Implementation of the codes, which have already been introduced in some member states, would be monitored by governments to ensure firms were abiding by the rules.

Officials stress that the proposals would not be legally binding, even if they were approved by member states. However, governments would be obliged to report back in 2003 on whether the codes had been successful in tackling the problem. “We would then see to what extent member states were moving. If they were not, we would consider further action,” said one.

The draft proposals have already been attacked by European drink manufacturers and advertisers, who claim they could be the first step towards an eventual ban on alocohol advertising similar to that already agreed for tobacco.

“The officials see it as laying the foundations for a later attack,” claimed one brewing industry source, who said firms had not been consulted on the proposals.

However, Commission insiders claim the institution itself is likely to strangle the proposals before they even see the light of day. “In its present form the plan would be thrown out,” said one expert, who claimed there was little support in the Commission for intervention in the sector.

Critics claim that Health Commissioner David Byrne himself is not enthusiastic about pressing ahead with the plans drawn up under his predecessor.

“It is not his greatest priority,” said one insider, who added that Byrne had taken the proposals off the agenda for next week's meeting of EU health ministers.

Health officials say the proposals were originally intended to address fears that fruity-flavoured alcoholic drinks known as alco-pops were being cynically targeted at children. But a working group of EU health policy experts set up to examine the issue also highlighted the need to combat 'binge drinking' among teenagers.

Chris Scott-Wilson, legal advisor to drinks firm Diageo, said the industry rejected the assumption which lay behind the proposals that there was a link between advertising and alcohol abuse by youngsters. He added that if the proposals were adopted, industry would unfairly be deemed to have “failed” in 2003 if codes of conduct did not stem the problem.