European think tank calls for mandatory EU alcohol health labelling

Health warnings on alcohol should be made mandatory across the European Union, according to a recent report by the Centres for European Policy Network, a think tank that praised the European Commission for giving the green light to Ireland’s plans in this direction.

Read the original French story here.

From May 2026, bottles of alcoholic drinks sold in Ireland will have to be labelled with consumer prevention messages in the same way as cigarette packets.

Irish consumers will soon be able to read messages such as “Alcohol consumption causes liver disease” or “There is a direct link between alcohol and deadly cancers”.

In Ireland, there are 1,000 new cases of alcohol-related cancer each year, according to Action Alcohol Ireland, while one in ten babies is born with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).

FASD, which can happen if alcohol passes from the mother’s blood to the baby’s blood during pregnancy, can damage the brain and body and stop them from developing normally.

However, while the Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME) welcomed this decision, the wine lobbies did not, arguing that it would distort competition in the EU single market.

“The European Commission’s decision is a major blow. It sets an extremely dangerous precedent,” the French Federation of Wine and Spirits Exporters (FEVS) said last June.

But, according to the Centres for European Policy Network (CEP), the Irish law is an example that all EU countries could benefit from.

“Given the proven health risk of alcohol, it is legitimate to introduce this new labelling requirement throughout the European Union,” Victor Warhem, economist and CEP representative in France, told Euractiv in an interview.

However, the European Wine Business Committee said that “the provisions contained in the Irish labelling regulations are incompatible with applicable Community law and constitute an unjustified and disproportionate barrier to trade under Community law”.

French warn Irish bottle labelling sets ‘dangerous precedent’

French wine exporters have criticised Ireland’s plans to require extensive health labelling on alcoholic beverages that received the European Commission’s stamp of approval in January, saying it sets a dangerous precedent and could distort competition on the EU single market.

Wines …

Economic benefits?

Conversely, a CEP report published in August argued that labelling all bottles of alcohol sold in Europe would have economic benefits for the wine and spirits industry.

Labelling “would have the effect of avoiding increasing labelling costs for alcohol producers, particularly in France, Spain and Italy, or causing them to turn away from the Irish market, with even more negative consequences for the health of the sector,” the report said.

At a time when the wine market is in crisis, small producers will find it difficult to cope with these additional costs, while larger producers will have no problems, Warhem added.

Despite the economic benefits, in particular for large producers, France, Italy, and Spain are not in favour of widespread labelling.

In response to the impending Irish law, the three countries, which together produce nearly half of all bottles of wine sold in the world, have decided to work on a joint document to challenge the Commission’s decision.

While the European Commission has not yet received a letter from the three countries, it believes that the future Irish legislation does not undermine the single market.

But with EU elections due next June, the issue will undoubtedly be on the agenda in Brussels and for the next Commission.

Until then, and starting from December, bottles of wine sold in the EU will have to display ingredients and nutritional values on their labels using a QR code.

[Edited by Giedre Peseckyte/Zoran Radosavljevic]

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