House of Lords calls for drinks industry's advice on next EU Alcohol Strategy

By Richard Siddle

Published: 01 August, 2014

The drinks industry has been invited by the House of Lords to send in its suggestions for what the next European Union Alcohol Strategy should look like.

House of Lords consultation call House of Lords consultation callDrinks industry asked to contribute to the next EU Alcohol Strategy

The drinks industry has been invited by the House of Lords to send in its suggestions for what the next European Union Alcohol Strategy should look like.

The House of Lords Home Affairs Health and Education EU Sub-Committee is conducting an inquiry into how the next European Union Alcohol Strategy should be shaped.

As part of its inquiry it is asking for specific contributions from the industry around the following key issues:

should there even be another EU Alcohol Strategy? If so, what should its focus, content and purpose be?

are the EU's existing alcohol policies in line with existing international frameworks to tackle alcohol abuse, for example, the World Health Organisation (WHO)?

could the Court of Justice of the European Union do more to balance to the aims of the single market with the wishes of individual Member States to promote public health, for example with minimum pricing?

are the mechanisms created in the last strategy for facilitating discussion, cooperation and the exchange of good practice between Member States, industry, civil society organisations and EU institutions, for example, the EU Alcohol and Health Forum (EAHF) and the Committee on National Alcohol Policy and Action (CNAPA), still appropriate?

Baroness Prashar, chairman of the committee said:

"The European Commission proposed the first Alcohol Strategy in October 2006. It was designed to help EU Member States to reduce alcohol-related illnesses and diseases amongst their citizens, and identified five priority themes to concentrate actions on for the next six years. These were: protecting young people, including children and the unborn child; reducing injuries and deaths from alcohol-related road accidents; preventing alcohol-related harm among adults and reducing the negative impact in workplaces; educating people and raising awareness of the impact and dangers of alcohol abuse; and developing and maintaining a record of similar cases across the EU.

"With the last Strategy having finished in 2012, thoughts are now turning to drafting a new one, expected to run from 2016-2022.

"We want to investigate how successful the current Strategy has been at achieving its aims and, in light of this, make suggestions about the content of the new Strategy and how it might be more effective.

"Therefore, I would encourage anyone with the relevant experience or expertise to contribute to our inquiry."

The deadline for submitting written evidence is September 19. To 2014.

For the full call for evidence, list of questions, and information about how to submit evidence to the inquiry, please see the website and via the written submission form.

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