Alcohol – a measured approach

Two MEPs discuss alcohol and health.

Avril Doyle

The EU’s treaties maintain that it should "contribute to the attainment of a high level of health protection" and that "health protection requirements shall form a constituent part of the Community’s other policies". Of course the challenge for legislators is to balance the need to cut red tape yet have better legislation to protect the health of European citizens. In the case of alcohol policy, as with any health proposal, there needs therefore to be sound and specific evidence to support any strategy. It should also be recognised that while moderate consumption of alcohol is a legitimate pleasure for the individual, abusive use has to be addressed.

Most people who consume alcohol do so without harmful outcomes. A recent paper by Eurocare on the economic, health and social impact of alcohol in Europe found that 10% of the population is consuming a third to half of the alcohol drunk. 15% of the population drink to a hazardous level, of which 6% drink at a harmful level. This suggests that 85% of individuals across Europe drink without experiencing harm and a majority of European consumers drink sensibly.

Although Europe has a majority of responsible drinkers, the levels of alcohol misuse have been steadily rising. The EU is the heaviest drinking region in the world and the cost of this is extremely heavy. In 2003, the total tangible cost of alcohol, such as crime and health costs, traffic accidents and lost productivity to the EU was estimated to be €125 billion and the intangible costs such as the pain and suffering due to criminal, social and health effects were estimated to be €270bn. Alcohol-related harm in the EU is estimated to cause one in seven child abuse and neglect cases, more than 2,000 murders, 10,000 suicides and 17,000 road traffic deaths a year - all in all more than 195,000 deaths each year in the EU. The trend of increased harmful and hazardous alcohol consumption has been of major concern to governments and communities over the last decade and represents a challenge for society.

With this in mind, the focused approaches of the Commission’s Communication on alcohol-related harm and the Parliament’s response in the form of the upcoming Fogiletta Report, although overdue are nonetheless to be welcomed. A lot of careful research and consultation has gone into the formulation of the EU’s alcohol strategy after repeated requests from MEP’s and health ministers for action. The Commission is to be congratulated for its approach in identifying key targets such as protecting children and combating binge-drinking, reducing injuries and death from alcohol-related road accidents and improving information, education and awareness of the impact of alcohol misuse. But in order for this strategy to be effective greater policy coherence and prioritisation of public health in the EU is needed. To give one example: the wine sector currently receives a total of €1.3 billion per year from the EU budget while this year the budget for public health rests at just €40 million.

While the EU should aim to protect citizens from the evident health and social effects of harmful and hazardous alcohol consumption, it must at the same time reflect the subsidiarity principle and take into account the cultural complexity of alcohol consumption across Europe. The EU’s alcohol strategy should also be able to make a distinction between drinking in moderation and the worrying binge culture which has developed in recent years. There is a fine line to be trodden between informing citizens of the risks of alcohol misuse and interfering with consumer choice and nannying them. It should not be forgotten that individuals bear the ultimate choice and responsibility for their own lifestyle. As the sardonic Enoch Powell used to say, the final freedom is the freedom of every one of us to go to the devil in our own way.

• Irish centre-right (EPP-ED) MEP Avril Doyle is a member of Parliament’s committee on environment, public health and food safety.

Katerina Batzeli

The consultation on the forthcoming reform of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) of the wine sector was launched a few months ago, in the context of rising international competition from so called new world wines. This development goes hand-in-hand with an important fall in consumption in the EU in comparison to the 1980s.

The situation calls for a reinforcement of the competitiveness of European wines, an important part of the discussions has focused on the promotion policy that the EU should put forward, with great emphasis on the sensitive issue of moderate and responsible consumption of wine.

Over the last years, progress accomplished in medicine has contributed to a significant change in the way we perceive wine. Research results repeatedly confirm the ancient belief that moderate and responsible consumption of wine can be beneficial to health. It should also be added that an important dimension of the internationally praised Mediterranean diet is the everyday consumption of a small quantity of red wine.

At the same time though, alarming data is often published on the pernicious impact of harmful and hazardous alcohol consumption on public health. According to the European Commission, the proportion of youths and young adults with harmful and hazardous consumption patterns has increased in many member states over the last ten years, and a great number of car accidents occur due to immoderate alcohol consumption.

In order to tackle these issues, the European Commission in October 2006 proposed an EU strategy to support member states in reducing alcohol-related harm. At the same time, in the context of the Television without Frontiers directive, restrictive conditions for alcohol advertising have been introduced.

According to recent research by the Institute of Alcohol Studies (UK), in a special reference to the current situation of the European wine-

growing sector, problems faced by wine-growers impede the advancement of efforts to protect public health. So can European wine promotion policies coexist with the protection of public health from immoderate alcohol consumption?

The European Parliament, in its resolution of 15 February dealing with the reform of the common organisation of the market in wine (Batzeli report), took a clear position on this ‘dilemma’ by proposing to reinforce the trend towards an increased moderate and responsible consumption of wines as a positive major contribution to the protection of European consumers and the public health. What exactly does this proposal mean and what is its scientific and political basis?

First of all we need to make a clear distinction between moderate and responsible consumption on the one hand and harmful and hazardous consumption on the other hand. The European Commission communication on the EU strategy to support member states in reducing alcohol-related harm is based on such a distinction and aims specifically and concretely at tackling the second consumption attitude. Therefore, in proposing to finance actions to promote European wines the European Parliament does not wish to encourage hazardous consumption in the EU.

Second, considering the reduced competitiveness of European wines in the context of harsh international competition, it is necessary to promote the moderate and responsible consumption of wine. Such a policy dimension should not be confused with a marketing strategy since it does not intend to cover advertising needs but institutional and educational ones. It is a choice arising from the need to keep European citizens constantly informed as to qualitative and cultural characteristics of European wines, including their education, in order to encourage beneficial and not harmful consumption.

On 4 July, the Commission will present a proposal for a regulation for the reform of the European wine sector. Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has clearly stated that she intends to put forward a financially reinforced promotion policy. Let us hope that the qualitative and cultural values of European wines, as well as the benefits from their moderate consumption, are going to be taken into consideration as a core dimension, complementary and coherent with health protection.

• Greek Socialist MEP Katerina Batzeli is a member of Parliament’s committee on agriculture and rural development.

Two MEPs discuss alcohol and health.