The decision to raise excise taxes on alcohol “penalises” the majority of consumers who drink responsibly, while those who have issues with alcohol will be unaffected as they will keep on drinking excessively, Alexandre Ricard told EURACTIV.com in an interview.
The dialogue between the beer industry and civil society organisations continues, despite health NGOs leaving the European Commission-backed EU Alcohol Forum, says Pierre-Olivier Bergeron.
Cardiovascular diseases are still the world’s leading cause of death. Much more should be done to prevent the major risk factors, Philippe Thébault told EURACTIV France.
Whiskey, Gin or Cognac bring “lots of joy and happiness” to those who drink them, says Paul Skehan, the boss of SpiritsEurope. But he also admits spirits have “a double side to them” and worries about attempts to overtax a sector whose exports are booming, especially in Asia.
The chief of strategy at the European Commission's health and consumer protection directorate (DG Sanco) tells EURACTIV that the forthcoming overhaul of its alcohol strategy will probably not come before the end of the year, but it will be on the agenda of the Cypriot presidency.
As drinks companies sign up to new guidelines for Internet marketing, the spirits industry told EURACTIV in an interview that self-regulation is quicker than legislation and insists the industry has no interest in marketing its products to young people.
Those who adopted healthy life as one of the key performance indicators for Lisbon understood that there is a business case for healthy citizens, explains Robert Madelin.
