Alcohol

On 20 March 2018, the Government Offices of Sweden presented at the Committee of National Alcohol Policy and Action (CNAPA) best practices developed at national level to curb alcohol related harm. Amongst the initiatives, it is to highlight:

• Universal measures with focus on limiting access to alcohol – to protect children
• Development of a retail monopoly
• Age limits; strong marketing legislation and legal BAC level 0,1 milligram/l; high taxes

As a result, medical and social harm caused by alcohol has steadily decreased.

HOTREC POSITION:

• HOTREC strongly supports and encourages Members to implement measures that enforce age limits when serving and selling alcohol and develop information programmes on responsible drinking as part of its commitment to the European Alcohol and Health Forum;
• HOTREC believes on the advantages of the Alcohol Forum, as a platform of exchange of good practices. HOTREC hopes that the plenary meetings will restart being called upon by the European Commission in the upcoming months.

On 25 May 2018, the European Commission issued a proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 92/83/EEC on the harmonisation of the structures of excise duties on alcohol beverages (COM(2018) 334 final).

The aim of the Commission is to reshape the rules governing excise duty on alcohol within the EU, to create a better business environment and to reduce costs for small alcohol-producing businesses and better protect consumer health.

The new rules will:

• Remove barriers to SMEs in general excise duty rules – SME’s will be able to use modern IT systems if they wish to do so. The obligation of employing a tax representative is supressed;
• Increase the threshold for lower strength beer that can benefit from reduced rates from 2.8% volume to 3.5% volume;
• Put in place a uniform certification system – recognisable in all EU countries confirming the status of independent small producers;
• Ensure a consistent classification of cider across the EU;
• Clarify the correct manufacturing processes and conditions for denatured alcohol in the EU – this kind of alcohol is used in products such as cleaning products, perfume, antifreeze and is exempt from excise duty. This exemption could motivate some producers to sell potential dangerous drinks without paying tax and endanger the health of consumers;
• Update IT systems – paper-based procedures to track denatured alcohol will be replaced by the mandatory use of Excise Movement and Control system. Denatured alcohol will be easier to track, using the fraudulent use of the exemption and protecting citizen’s help.

NEXT STEPS:

The European Parliament and and European Economic and Social Committee will be consulted on the topic. After that, it will be up to the Council to decide.

HOTREC POSITION:

• HOTREC believes that the initiative has a direct impact on the alcohol producers;
• The extension of the threshold for lower strength beer (from 2.8% volume to 3.5% volume) is positive and will give incentives to the sector to innovate;
• The uniform certification system and new IT systems will help reduce red tape and administrative burdens to SMEs.

On 12th March 2018, the alcohol producers presented their self-regulatory proposal (on ingredients and nutrition declaration). This proposal is the follow-up of a report published by the Commission in March 2017.

The Commitment consists essentially on the following points:

• Alcoholic beverages are currently exempted from providing ingredients and nutrition information. The European alcoholic beverages sectors are committing to providing the nutrition and ingredients information of their products in tailored and meaningful ways;
• The nutrition and ingredients information of the products will be provided to consumers offlabel and/or on label;
• Information provided off-label will be easily accessible from the label itself, either by a weblink, a QR code, a bar code or through other direct means using smart technologies;
• To fulfil this commitment, the sectors will use traditional and/or innovative tools and may develop comprehensive modern information systems to provide useful information to consumers;
• Food business operators responsible for the food information will decide how to display the information;
• The information, while abiding to the legal framework laid down in EU or national legislation, will be provided in line with the principles set in the joint proposal (link) and the sectors’ annexes;
• Alcohol producers will report on implementation in March 2021. In the meantime, sectors will report on the progress of their commitments, in accordance with the information provided in the governance section and the sector annexes.

NEXT STEPS:

The European Commission will analyse the proposal. If the approach is considered unsatisfactory, then an impact assessment would be launched.

HOTREC POSITION:

• HOTREC welcomes the self-regulatory approach presented by the alcohol producers. It shows their willingness in keeping consumers informed while taking into account the different sectors characteristics (beer, cider, spirits and wine);
• The commitment focuses on pre-packed food, meaning that HOTREC is an observer in the process, as hospitality businesses do not produce themselves pre-packed alcoholic food/drinks. In fact, it is up to the alcohol producers to decide how to transmit the
  information to the consumer;
• What is important is that clear information is provided or referred to through one mean or another on the packs/bottles (e.g. information on label or label reference to website/QR code, bar code etc.).

On 7th and 8th December 2017, the Health and Consumer Affairs Council adopted conclusions on cross-border aspects in alcohol policy. The text invites Member States to:

• Continue integrating the objective of reducing alcohol-related harm in policies such as those likely to have an impact on the price of alcoholic beverages, as well as policies aimed at regulating marketing and alcohol selling arrangements;
• Monitoring compliance with national and EU measures aimed at preventing the harmful use of alcohol, such as the minimum age for purchasing alcohol and the conditions applicable to cross-border transport on alcoholic beverages;
• Examine possibility of adopting measures to protect children and young people from exposure to cross-border advertising;
• Continue developing best practices aimed at reducing alcohol related harm;
• Support studies and scientific research; build on work carried out by WHO. The Council also invited the Commission to assess the self-regulatory proposal on providing information on the ingredients and nutritional values of alcoholic beverages to be put forward by the industry by March 2018.

HOTREC POSITION:

• HOTREC strongly supports and encourages members to implement measures that enforce age limits when serving and selling alcohol and develop information programmes on responsible drinking as part of its commitment to the European Alcohol and Health Forum;
• HOTREC believes on the advantages of the Alcohol Forum, as a platform of exchange of good practices. HOTREC hopes that the plenary meetings will restart being called upon by the European Commission in the upcoming months.

On 7th and 8th November 2017, the Policy department of the Cyprus anti-drugs Council presented its best practices to curb alcohol related harm, at the Committee on National Alcohol Policy and Action.

Overall, the anti-drugs Council presented the following goals and tasks:

• Goal of reduction accessibility and availability of alcohol for vulnerable groups;
  Action: monitoring the licensing system to monitor alcohol production; stricter enforcement of current legislation; revision of legislation (provisions for personal training on responsible selling and serving; clear age verification system; stricter sanctions; annual publications of non-compliant cases; change legal age limit form 17 to 18);
• Goal of reduction of drink and driving;
  Action: reduction of BAC limit to 0.09 mg/ml for novice drivers, professional drivers, motorists and cyclists; breath testing; stricter penalties and fines;
• Goal of reduction of alcohol consumption among young people and prevention of heavy drinking;
  Action: enforcement of taxation system for alcohol beverages based on alcohol type and volume and enforcement of tax legislation and controls at border to minimize illegal trade;

The Cypriot government has as a priority for 2017-2020 the reduction of heavy episodic drinking among children and young people. The current actions count with:

• Training in responsible sale and serve of alcohol and good practices in harm reduction for hospitality professionals and event/festival organisers;
• Promote and develop action amongst young people in schools;
• Develop and integrate information on alcohol related harm in academic curricula for professionals working with young people;

HOTREC POSITION:

• HOTREC strongly supports and encourages members to implement measures that enforce age limits when serving and selling alcohol and develop information programmes on responsible drinking as part of its commitment to the European Alcohol and Health Forum;
• HOTREC believes on the advantages of the Alcohol Forum, as a platform of exchange of good practices. HOTREC hopes that the plenary meetings will restart being called upon by the European Commission in the upcoming months.

On October 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) regional office for Europe published a new report on “Alcohol labelling”.  According to their opinion, it is the right of consumers to do informed choices about the products they purchase, and it is the obligation of public institutions to ensure consumers are able to do so.

WHO also defends that labels could be part of a strategy to provide information and educate consumers to prevent and reduce alcohol-related harm. In addition, WHO recalls that bringing alcohol packaging requirements into line with those that apply to non-alcoholic beverage packaging (as per Regulation 1169/2011) would involve listing ingredients. Similarly, nutritional values might be provided per portion. Listing ingredients alerts the consumer to the presence of any potential problematic substances. In addition, according to WHO, providing nutritional information such as energy content allows consumers to monitor their diets better and makes it easy to maintain a healthy lifestyle. WHO suggests the following options for product labelling:

• Inclusion of a list of ingredients and nutritional information (such as energy content) on containers;
• Provision of information on labels explaining impact on health.

NEXT STEPS:
The industry representatives are working on a joint proposal to deliver a self-regulatory scheme on the topic.

HOTREC POSITION:

• Any information to be transmitted to consumers on ingredients information or nutrition information regarding prepacked food shall be clearly be provided by the alcohol producers (e.g. information on label, or label with reference to websites/QR codes, etc.);
• Hospitality businesses are obliged to provide information on allergens with regard to non-prepacked food, with flexible means of communication. The situation should remain as it is.

At the occasion of the Committee of National Alcohol Policy and Action, which took place in Luxembourg, on 21-22 March 2017, the European Commission revised the EU Health-Programme 2014-2020. Amongst the several actions it is to highlight:

• 2014 – monitoring of the national policies related to alcohol consumption and harm reduction;
• 2015 – gathering knowledge and exchanging best practices on measures reducing availability of alcoholic
  beverages;
• 2016 – reducing underage drinking and heavy episodic drinking – the activities aimed at testing methods / tools
  and at identifying good practices on reducing heavy episodic drinking including amongst young adults and
  underage drinking in different Member States;
• 2017 – The EU dimension of alcohol related harm – based on the results of the 2014-2016 joint Action to reduce Alcohol Related Harm, the initiative will scale up and reinforce the Joint Action outcomes.

It is the European Commission’s objectives to strengthen the EU dimension of the efforts tackling alcohol related harm. The main aim is to increase the knowledge base and provide tools that can effectively support Member States’ activities in the area.

HOTREC POSITION: 

• HOTREC strongly supports and encourages its members to implement measures that enforce age limits when serving and selling alcohol and develop information programmes on responsible drinking as part of its commitment to the European Alcohol and Health Forum;

On 13th March 2017, the European Commission published a report on the mandatory labelling of the list of ingredients and the nutrition declaration of alcoholic drinks (link).

According to Regulation 1169/2011, alcoholic beverages are not covered by the provisions regarding mandatory list of ingredients and mandatory nutrition declaration (including energy value). The European Commission recognised in its report that current voluntary initiatives were deployed across Europe, but should develop further so as to provide a list of ingredients and nutrition declaration. Nevertheless, it invited the industry to respond to consumer’s expectations and present within one year time a selfregulatory
proposal that would cover the entire sector of alcoholic beverages. If the proposal will be considered unsatisfactory by the Commission, an impactassessment will be launched. The latter will consider regulatory and nonregulatory options, in particular information on the energy value of the alcoholic beverages. The assessment will take into account different options in the internal market, on the economic sectors and on consumer’s needs.

HOTREC POSITION:

• HOTREC strongly supports and encourages members to implement measures that enforce age limits when serving and selling alcohol and develop information programmes on responsible drinking as part of its commitment to the European Alcohol and Health Forum;
• HOTREC advises members to get in touch with the alcohol producers at national level in order to help build the best voluntary strategy possible on the matter.

On 7th February 2017, MEP Morten Petersen (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats/Denmark) hosted an event at the European
Parliament with the aim of presenting the public private partnership on responsible alcohol consumption.

The Danish Partnership for a responsible alcohol consumption was founded in 2014. Partners include a large part of the value chain: producers of alcohol, retailers, restaurants, bars and cafés. The partnership received economic support from the Danish Ministry of Health for campaigns, promoting a responsible alcohol consumption in Denmark.

The following campaigns organised under the umbrella of the partnership are to be highlighted:

• Enforcement of legal age limits in the retail sector: making sure that alcohol is not sold to young people under 16 or 18 years old (depending type of drink); that the hospitality retailers ask for the ID; that the campaign is noticed by young people and that the staff is helped in its task not to sell alcohol to underage. The results showed that 42% of employees in the stores responded that the campaign had a positive effect in their work; 35% of the adolescent became aware of the campaign; 90% of activity of Facebook was done by the target group (adolescents aged 13 to 21);
• Nightlife safety – the campaign will be launched during 2017. It will focus on friendship / fellowship. The aim is to catch the attention of adolescents and start a debate on the consequences of binge drinking in relation to safety, inappropriate behaviour.

HOTREC POSITION: 

• HOTREC strongly supports and encourages members to implement measures that enforce age limits when serving and selling alcohol and develop information programmes on responsible drinking as part of its commitment to the European Alcohol and Health Forum;
• HOTREC believes on the advantages of the Alcohol Forum, as a platform of exchange of good practices. HOTREC hopes that the plenary meetings will restart being called upon by the European Commission in the upcoming months.

On 23 November 2016, the European Commission together with OECD launched the report: “Health at a glance”. The report
shows that policies that aim at promoting good health and preventing diseases as well as more effective healthcare could save lives across the EU. Life expectancy now exceeds 80 years in most EU countries.

However, this number is not always matched by healthy life years. Around 50 million people in the EU suffer from several chronic diseases, and more than half a million people of working age die from them every year, representing an annual cost of some 115 billion EUR for EU economies. Regarding alcohol, the latter was appointed as the third leading risk factor for disease and mortality after tobacco and high blood pressure. High alcohol intake is associated with increased risk of the heart, stroke and vascular diseases and certain cancers. The report considers that even moderate consumption increases the long term risk of developing such diseases.

HOTREC POSITION:

• As an active member of the European Alcohol and Health Forum, HOTREC is fully committed in encouraging its members to take measures to curb alcoholrelated harm in Europe.
• HOTREC encourages its members to develop voluntary actions according with the Charter of the Alcohol Forum, especially focusing on:
  • Continuing enforcing age limits when serving and selling alcohol according to existing legislation;
  • Developing information and education programmes on responsible drinking (in order to facilitate informed choices by consumers).

On 13 and 14 October 2016 the European Joint Action on reducing alcohol related harm (RARHA) organised its final conference in Lisbon. RAHRA was created to continue work on key priorities of the EU alcohol strategy. All Member States joined the action, together with Switzerland, Norway and Iceland. The Action counts with more than 70 partners, including WHO, ECD health Division and Pompidou Group of the Council of Europe.

RARHA’s work on monitoring had had as main objective to provide a comparative assessment and monitoring of alcohol consumption, including drinking levels and alcohol related harms across Europe. In this sense, SEAS – a standardized European Alcohol Survey was put forward in 20 European Countries. As a result a common survey methodology was elaborated and data from surveys from 20082012
were gathered for comparative assessments. Over 32.000 interviews were completed. Some of the results of the survey show that:

• Over 20% of men and over 10% of women in countries represented drink in an hazardous way, at least once a month;
• In countries with high alcohol taxes and prices and practically no border control (like in the Nordic countries), travelers’ alcohol imports are a crucial source of unrecorded supply, while in winetradition countries major sources of unrecorded supply are domestic wine as well as domestic spirits;
• Between 40% to 50% of the people interviewed support alcohol measures such as high prices, restrictions on number outlets, time restrictions and advertising bans. 80% support random breath testing in drivers;

HOTREC POSITION: 

• HOTREC welcomes the results of WHO report stating that adolescent alcohol use has decreased in most European and North American countries and regions since the beginning of the 21st century;
• HOTREC believes on the added value of the Alcohol Forum, as it is a platform to exchange best practices and where the ultimate goal is decreasing alcohol related harm;
• HOTREC looks forward to the Commission announcement on what will be the next steps with regard to the alcohol policy.

According to a report published on March 2016 by the World Health Organisation, adolescent alcohol use has decreased in
most European and North American countries and regions since the beginning of the 21st century. The findings indicate that the
decrease is ongoing in all age groups and among boys as well as girls.

According with the report, the following points could have contributed to the trend of decrease in alcohol consumption:

• Policies developed in many countries and regions limit underage access and restrict use among those of all ages, including prevention policies;
• Changes in social norms, such as stronger societal disapproval of adolescent drinking;
• Scholl based intervention targeting adolescents and their parents;
• Prevention programmes on life skills and healthy lifestyle may also be effective and can be considered as policy and practice options.

HOTREC POSITION: 

• HOTREC fully supports the re-establishment of Alcohol Forum based on the pillars defined by the Alcohol Strategy 2006-2012;
• HOTREC regrets that NGOs left the Forum and hopes that they will come back to the platform – the EAHF should be diverse and represent the interests of all stakeholders related with alcohol policy;
• HOTREC believes on the added value of the Alcohol Forum, as it is a platform to exchange best practices and where the ultimate goal is decreasing alcohol related harm;
• HOTREC looks forward to the Commission announcement on what will be the next steps with regard to the alcohol policy.

The 15th meeting of CNAPA (Committee on National Alcohol Policy and Action) took place on 7-8 October 2015. The Commission presented a forthcoming health policy platform and the possibility for CNAPA to use it to prepare meetings, discuss and exchange information both within CNAPA and with other stakeholders.

In addition, as a result of presentations given by WHO and OECD, it was concluded that it is important for Member States to continue gathering comparable data on levels and patterns of alcohol consumption and on alcohol related harm. Moreover, the Finish National Institute for Health and Welfare presented the changes in the Finish legislation to strength regulation of alcohol advertising that entered into force 1 January 2015. The changes include prohibition of alcohol advertising and sales promotion activities that involve taking part in a game, lottery or contest and a prohibition of the use of any consumerproduced content and of viral advertising techniques in alcohol advertising disseminated through electronic communication networks. Finally, CNAPA members also presented the latest developments in their countries, focusing on reducing heavy episodic drinking (binge drinking) and reducing harm from alcohol during pregnancy.

HOTREC POSITION: 

• HOTREC is of the opinion that a closer cooperation should be established between CNAPA and the Alcohol Forum. HOTREC believes that, at least, umbrella organisations should be able to attend CNAPA meetings and that more CNAPA representatives should attend the Alcohol Forum. In this way, best practices could be shared in a more focused way, which would consequently lead to the implementation of practices aiming at decreasing alcohol related-harm across Europe.

During the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council, which took place on 18 and 19 of June 2015, a majority of ministers backed a call of the Slovenian delegation to present a new framework for the EU’s alcohol policy.

The note provided by the Slovenian delegation states that according to WHO, alcohol is the third leading risk factor for disease and mortality in Europe. At the same time, the societal costs of alcohol consumption in the EU for 2010 were estimated at €155.8 billion. The note explains that Member States are addressing alcohol related harm at national level, however many of the evidence based policy measures related to alcohol prevention also need to be addressed at an EU-level.

According to the note, a majority of the Member States had backed the call for a new comprehensive strategy to tackle harmful use of alcohol and alcohol related harm, during the Riga informal Council meeting (2021- April 2015).

Slovenia invited the Commission to inform the Council on how it intends to proceed on the matter.

Background information
Commissioner Andriukaitis, responsible for the portfolio of Health and Food Safety, announced during the last European Alcohol and Health Forum (EAHF), taking place on May 2015, that the intention of the Commission was to include harmful alcohol consumption into a wider strategic approach to tackle chronic diseases. He mentioned that the Commission intended to continue supporting the EU Alcohol Strategy 2006-2012.

HOTREC POSITION:

• HOTREC fully supports the EU Alcohol Strategy 2006-2012 and is for this reason an active member of the EAHF;
• HOTREC would support a new strategy, as long as the main objective would continue to be to decrease alcoholrelated
  harm;
• HOTREC calls on its members to enforce national legislation on the age limits;
• HOTREC also encourages its members to develop information and education programmes on responsible drinking;
• HOTREC deeply regrets the fact that NGO’s have left the EAHF. The EAHF should be a place where all interests should be represented (e.g. alcohol producers, on trade, off trade, consumers, NGOs) otherwise it risks to become void;

On 18th May 2015, took place the 16th plenary meeting of the European Alcohol and Health Forum. On this occasion Commissioner Andriukaitis (responsible for the portfolio of Health and Food) addressed Forum members and emphasised the need for a holistic
approach to reduce premature deaths related to alcohol misuse. But he made it clear that alcohol-related harm would not be treated in a separate strategy, but would instead be called “risk factor” in a wider strategy to tackle chronic diseases. In this sense, alcohol, tobacco, nutrition and physical inactivity would be dealt with in the same plan. The Commissioner also highlighted the importance of the Forum and of the actions being taken by members to decrease alcohol related harm.

The Forum was also an occasion for HOTREC, Brewers of Europe, Wine in Moderation, Spirits and EUROCOMMERCE to present joint best practices developed at national level on underage drinking. The examples of the Community Action programme (UK) and Shuju (Germany) were given.

Next steps:
Action/plan to be presented by the Commission on chronic diseases possibly in 2016.

HOTREC POSITION: 

• HOTREC fully supports the EU Alcohol Strategy 2006-2012 and is for this reason an active member of the European Alcohol and Health Forum;
• HOTREC calls on its members to enforce national legislation on the age limits;
• HOTREC also encourages its members to develop information and education programmes on responsible drinking.

On 29 April 2015, the European Parliament voted during its plenary session on a Motion for a Resolution on the EU Alcohol Strategy (no consolidated version available yet) which was presented by all the parliamentary political groups.

The overall objective of the nonlegislative text is to encourage the Commission to present a new EU Alcohol Strategy (20162022).
By and large, the European Parliament urges Member States or the Commission to

• Protect young people from alcoholrelated harm, in particular by strictly enforcing national legislation on the age limit (finally, and against what had been previously voted at the ENVI committee, Member States will not be encouraged to raise their age limit to at least 18 for young people to be allowed to drink alcohol);
• Develop measurable policy goals to monitor progress of the implementation of national strategies to decrease alcoholrelated
  harm;
• Consider introducing policies aimed at preventing the sale of very cheap alcohol and pay due regard to the opinion of the court of Justice of the European Union on the compatibility of the Scottish Government’s minimum pricing policy with EU law;
  Monitor alcohol advertising and its effects on young people;
• Include the calorie content of alcoholic beverages on labels as soon as possible (2016).

Next Steps:
The Commission will probably announce soon whether it will propose a new Alcohol Strategy or if the current one will continue to be applicable.

HOTREC POSITION: 

• HOTREC welcomes a new Alcohol Strategy, as long as the main objective is curbing alcoholrelated harm;
• HOTREC welcomes the fact that establishments will continue being able to sell alcohol, even if located nearby school. If this would not be the case a lot of establishments would probably need to close down;
• HOTREC fully supports the enforcement of national legislation on the age limits;
• HOTREC also encourages its members to develop information and education programmes on responsible drinking.

On 29 January 2015 a Motion for a Resolution on the EU Alcohol Strategy has been presented at the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) at the European Parliament by all political groups. The objective is to call on the Commission to present a new Alcohol Strategy. Amongst other measures, the Parliament calls on the Commission and Member States to:

• Enhance the role of the Alcohol Forum;
• Monitor progress regarding the Action Plan on Alcohol presented by Member States;
• Review and strengthen the implementation of measures to restrict alcohol sales to those under the legal age for alcohol purchase, namely by restricting sales in premises within a close range from schools;
• Consider the appropriateness of introducing minimum pricing per alcohol unit.

At the same time, CNAPA, the Committee for National Alcohol Policy and Action, formed by Member States representatives, released a scoping paper, also calling the Commission for a new Alcohol Strategy. CNAPA encourages the EU to work on:

• EU rules on the mechanisms to influence prices (including alcohol taxation);
• EU definitions of alcohol beverages that inhibit reduction of alcohol content;
• Alcohol marketing and advertising;
• Providing health-related information through labelling of alcoholic beverages;
• Research, gathering and monitoring.

For the moment the European Commission has not announced a new Alcohol Strategy and defends that the current one (2006-2012) is still applicable.

Next steps:
The LIBE Committee will vote on the draft Resolution on 31 March 2015 while the EP plenary will do so in April 2015.

HOTREC POSITION: 

• HOTREC welcomes a new strategy, as long as the main objective is curbing alcohol related harm;
• Establishments holding a license to sell alcohol, should be able to continue doing so whatever their location is;
• There will always be establishments that sell alcohol nearby schools. To restrict selling alcohol in those areas, would force the establishments to close down;
• HOTREC proposed that Member States conduct regular control measures in the premises with a close range from schools.

On 6 November 2014, took place the 15th plenary meeting of the European Alcohol and Health Forum, at Luxembourg.

The Action Plan on Youth Drinking and Heavy Episodic Drinking, a non-legally binding document endorsed on 16 September 2014 by the Committee on National Alcohol Policy and Action (CNAPA), was presented at the meeting. Stakeholders of the Forum are called to  resent commitments in line with the proposed actions. Specifically, the Action Plan calls on the beverage industry, including the hospitality sector and advertising industry to help in prevention activities in particular through initiatives that reduce the negative consequences of drinking and intoxication, such as management policies relating to responsible serving, training of hospitality sector staff, to preventing and managing intoxicated drinkers, and to ensuring that alcohol is not available to those under legal age of purchase. At the same time, NGO’s are asked to introduce effective methods to help detect and address alcohol related problems. The European Commission will be responsible to facilitate the implementation and follow up of the Action Plan (which will include the elaboration of one or two implementation reports).

With regard to a future possible Alcohol Strategy, Forum members were informed that CNAPA will probably finalise its scoping paper to inform the Commission on their views on the future EU alcohol policy in the beginning of December 2014.

As an active member of the European Alcohol and Health Forum, HOTREC is fully committed in encouraging its members to take measures to curb alcohol-related harm in Europe. In this sense, HOTREC motivates its members to develop voluntary actions according with the Charter of the Alcohol Forum, especially focusing on:

• Continuing enforcing age limits when serving and selling alcohol according to existing legislation;
• Developing information and education programmes on responsible drinking (in order to facilitate informed choices by consumers).

As a result of its commitment, HOTREC has gathered an updated survey on the voluntary measures taken at national level on a voluntary basis, in accordance with HOTREC guidance document on responsible drinking. The main goal is to facilitate best practices sharing across Europe.

HOTREC also encourages its members to become members of the Forum.

The Finish Hospitality Association (FHA), SILB-FIPE (Associazione Italiana Imprese di Intrattenimento di Ballo e di Spettacolo), UMIH (Union des Métiers et des Industries de L’Hôtellerie) and the Swedish Hospitality Industry (VISITA) are other HOTREC members who are also members of the Forum.

On an yearly basis, each member of the Forum needs to present an annual report to the Commission explaining how the commitment is being implemented. HOTREC received a 99% score in the intermediate report corresponding to the commitment activities developed during 2013.

On 6 November 2014, the 15th plenary meeting of the European Alcohol and Health Forum will take place in Luxembourg. One of the main agenda items will be the presentation of the Action Plan on Youth Drinking and on Heavy Episodic drinking. The Action Plan was approved by the Committee on National Alcohol Policy and Action (CNAPA) on 16 September 2014 and presents several actions, mainly to be developed by Member States, during a two year period. The document does not have legal effects and focuses on the following areas:

• Reduce heavy episodic drinking (binge drinking);
• Reduce accessibility and availability of alcoholic beverages for youth;
• Reduce exposure of youth to alcohol marketing and advertising;
• Reduce harm from alcohol during pregnancy;
• Ensure a healthy and safe environment for youth;
• Support monitoring and increase research.

The Action Plan encourages the beverage industry including the hospitality sector and the advertising industry to reduce the negative consequences of drinking and intoxication, such as managing intoxicated drinkers and ensuring that alcohol is not available to those under the legal age of purchase.

As an active member of the European Alcohol and Health Forum, HOTREC is fully committed in encouraging its members to take measures to curb alcohol-related harm in Europe. In this sense, HOTREC motivates its members to develop voluntary actions according with the Charter of the Alcohol Forum, especially focusing on:

• Continuing enforcing age limits when serving and selling alcohol according to existing legislation;
• Developing information and education programmes on responsible drinking (in order to facilitate informed choices by consumers).

HOTREC also encourages its members to become members of the Forum.
The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), the Finish Hospitality Association (FHA), SILB-FIPE (Associazione Italiana Imprese di Intrattenimento di Ballo e di Spettacolo), UMIH (Union des Métiers et des Industries de L’Hôtellerie) and the Swedish Hospitality Industry (VISITA) are other HOTREC members who are also members of the Forum.

On 17 of June 2014 took place the Committee on National Alcohol Policy and Action (CNAPA). The CNAPA is chaired by the European Commission and counts with the presence of Member States representatives. One of the agenda items was the draft Action Plan on Alcohol. The Action Plan will be a non-paper providing reference for implementing actions by Member States on a voluntary basis with the ultimate aim of curbing alcohol-related harm across Europe. It will focus on binge drinking and youth. CNAPA will endorse the final version in a written procedure before 15 September 2014. The complete version of the document has not, until the present date, been made public yet.

As an active member of the European Alcohol and Health Forum, HOTREC is fully committed in encouraging its members to take measures to curb alcohol-related harm in Europe. In this sense, HOTREC encourages its members to develop, at national level, voluntary actions according with the Charter of the Alcohol Forum, especially focusing on:

• Continuing enforcing age limits when serving and selling alcohol according to existing legislation;
• Developing information and education programmes on responsible drinking (in order to facilitate informed choices by consumers).

HOTREC also encourages its members to become members of the Forum.
The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), the Finish Hospitality Association (FHA), SILB-FIPE (Associazione Italiana Imprese di Intrattenimento di Ballo e di Spettacolo), UMIH (Union des Métiers et des Industries de L’Hôtellerie) and the Swedish Hospitality Industry (VISITA) are other HOTREC members who are also members of the Forum.

On 9 April 2014, took place the 14th plenary meeting of the European Alcohol and Health Forum (EAHF). The Chair of the Forum, Mr. John Ryan, reiterated that the EU Alcohol Strategy 2006-2012 will continue to apply until a new one is issued. In the meanwhile, a two year Action Plan on Alcohol is being discussed at CNAPA (Committee on National Alcohol Policy and Action) by representatives of national governments. The document counts with the involvement of the European Commission and focuses on binge drinking and youth (a young person, according with the Action Plan, is considered to be someone with 25 years old or less). The Action Plan will concentrate on the following areas:

• Reduce heavy episodic drinking (binge drinking);
• Reduce availability and accessibility of alcoholic beverages to youth;
• Limit exposure to marketing and advertising;
• Protect the unborn child;
• Ensure a healthy and safe environment for children and young people;
• Monitor and increase research.

CNAPA representatives are also working on a concept paper that aims at ensuring the continuity of the EU Alcohol Strategy and is based on the results of the evaluation report of the Strategy.

HOTREC embraces the goals of the EU Alcohol Strategy and is fully committed in curbing alcohol-related harm across Europe. As an active member of the EAHF, HOTREC is continuously encouraging its members to develop actions at national level, on a voluntary basis, according with the Charter of the Alcohol Forum and motivates its members to become members of the EAHF. Due to HOTREC’s orientation guidelines, SILB-FIPE (Associazione Italiana Imprese di Intrattenimento di Ballo e di Spettacolo) and UMIH (Union des Métiers et des Industries de L’Hôtellerie) became, during the 14th plenary meeting, members of the EAHF. The British Beer and Pub Association, the Finnish Hospitality Association and Horeca Vlaanderen are the other HOTREC members who also have active commitments at the EAHF.

On 21 November 2013, the 13th plenary session of the European Alcohol and Health Forum took place. The Chair of the Forum, Mr. John Ryan, explained Forum members that the EU Alcohol Strategy 2006-2012 would continue to apply until a new one would be issued by the European Commission (no date foreseen yet).

It has also been announced that a new Action Plan on Alcohol will be presented soon to Forum members. The policy orientation of the Action Plan will be discussed by the different Member States. In principal, the Action Plan will focus on youth, binge drinking and heavy drinking. The Chair encouraged Forum members to present new commitments to the Forum in line with the new Action Plan or to fine tune existing commitments.

The commitments should be aimed at presenting specific results and should follow a certain timeline of achievements. Forum members will be consulted in order to propose actions that could be included in the Action Plan.

As a member of the European Alcohol and Health Forum, HOTREC fully supports an Action Plan that helps to curb alcohol related harm and that encourages consumers in taking informed choices in order to avoid the harmful and hazardous consumption of alcohol. Nevertheless, HOTREC hopes that the terminology and content used in the Action Plan will fully coincide with the EU Alcohol Strategy 2006-2012. The latter is the document that should continue orientating Forum Members action’s, until a new Strategy is announced.