EU ALCOHOL POLICY CONFERENCE

Paola Testori Coggi, The European Commission Director-General for Health and Consumers, addressed the participants of the 4th European Alcohol Policy Conference, organized by Eurocare (European Alcohol Policy Alliance) on 21-22 June 2010 in Brussels.

The conference series is regarded as a key element in the field of alcohol policy in the European Union, and conferences take place every two years. The latest conference attracted over 260 delegates from 28 different countries.

Speaking as part of the welcoming session, Ms Testori drew attention to the impact of harmful alcohol consumption on the European population, particularly on young people, and the EU actions in response to this. She set out the following headline statistics: 23 million Europeans are estimated to be dependent on alcohol every year; alcohol causes nearly 200,000 deaths annually in the EU, a figure which includes around 50,000 deaths from alcohol caused cancers; every second driver who dies in a single-vehicle traffic crash is under the influence of alcohol; alcohol is responsible for 25% of all deaths of young men in the 15-24 age group. The Director-General made reference to a French survey on young people published in 2007, which demonstrated that in many EU countries the rates of binge drinking are rising. She stated that alcohol is a drug, and that her intention is to make the protection of young people a key priority for the Directorate-General for Health and Consumers. Ms Testori also drew attention to the impact that alcohol consumption has on the brain development of young people. “Alcohol is a drug that affects brain development, such as memory and personality. This is particularly serious until the end of the development stage of a human being – at around 20 years”, she said.

While outlining the European Commission’s recent actions in this field, Ms Testori focused in particular on the EU Alcohol Strategy launched in 2006, which constitutes the basis for cooperation between the EU and the Member States. The Director-General praised the progress that has been made so far, but underlined the still uneven implementation of good practices and compliance of the commitments that Member States took in the frame of such strategy.

The Director-General highlighted the role of the European Alcohol Health Forum, set up by the Commission to implement the EU Alcohol Strategy and opened to different stakeholders, such as NGOs, industry, media actors and other partners. The Forum is an open platform for voluntary action in the field of the fight against alcohol; 150 voluntary initiatives have been undertaken today, and Eurocare figures as one of the most active members to this extent.

As regards alcohol marketing, one of the issues discussed within the Forum, she underlined the variable response of Member States and the work carried out by the members of the Alcohol Health Forum in this field. She also expressed her wish to see in the future a minimum set of requirements to protect young people from aggressive alcohol marketing put in place across the EU.

While recognizing the fundamental contribution of the Commission in developing the structures aimed at implementing the EU Alcohol Strategy, Ms Testori stated her desire to focus even more on delivering concrete results in the near future. In conclusion, she thanked the NGO community for actively participating so far in this process, and underlined the essential role that they play in the fight against alcohol.

The 5th European Union alcohol policy conference will take place in Copenhagen in 2012 and it will be research-oriented.

European Youth Network supports alcohol policy

A key presentation at the conference was made by Jan Peloza of the Alcohol Policy Youth Network (APYN), the body originally set up by Eurocare and the European Youth Forum, but which has now achieved independent status in its own right.

Jan Peloza said that the main objective of APYN was to empower young people in taking part in decision making. APYN believed in active citizenship, in not staying quiet. Its motto is: ‘Nothing for us without us’.

APYN did not approve of cooperation or collaboration with the alcohol industry. This approach originated from the viewpoint that one cannot use crime to fight against crime.

In regard to prevention of alcohol harm, emphasis should be put on new media, especially new social media and the peer pressure they promote. The Internet had become a new space where people ‘hang out’, and therefore control over advertising on the Internet was crucial to protect young people effectively from the marketing tactics of the alcohol industry. Health promotion campaigns were the main way of reaching young people so far, but were they enough? One consideration was that the majority of young people did not visit health promotion websites on the Internet. So while the alcohol industry was making full use of modern media it did not follow that those who wished to promote health could use the same methods. To achieve results, what was needed was:

• a total ban on advertising, including new media
• decreased availability of alcohol
• increased prices of alcohol products.

If all stakeholders are really and sincerely working on diminishing the burden of alcohol harm, then we should use these three measures and not purely education campaigns, which are not that effective.