Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, let me begin by thanking the Commission for having addressed this increasingly acute problem of alcohol abuse among children and adolescents. May I also say that the Commission has produced a good basis for a recommendation to the Council. The unimpaired development and health of our children and teenagers is a matter of concern to all of us. Mrs Stihler and Mrs Zissener have both indicated the nature of the problem in Europe. For adults in Europe, the consumption of alcohol is often, though by no means universally, an integral part of social life. Young people, however, are shaped by the drinking habits of adult society, which they copy. Alcohol consumption is therefore widely regarded as part of growing up. The drinking habits of young people largely reflect the attitudes and habits of the adult society in which they live. Role models are therefore of the essence. It is imperative that young people see alcohol being treated properly and wisely by their families and by society as a whole. Any inclination to abuse alcohol must be nipped in the bud. Targeted education campaigns must be used to combat alcohol abuse. The consequences of alcohol abuse affect us all. They affect families and societies. Road deaths caused by drunk drivers, loss of jobs and ultimately family break-ups are but a few examples of the ravages of alcohol abuse. At the national level there are already many sound laws for the protection of children and adolescents, such as the laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol to minors. Strenuous efforts must be made to ensure that these existing national laws are more effectively enforced. Warnings printed on labels, extending to comparisons such as ‘one glass of brandy equals three glasses of beer’, if I understood Mrs Stihler’s amendment correctly, would serve little purpose, in my opinion. Such comparisons create confusion and might even give the impression that particular alcoholic drinks could safely be consumed in larger quantities. Such comparisons cannot give any indication of the actual effects of a beverage on individual people or of an individual’s consumption capacity. On the contrary, they might induce people to misjudge their own tolerance levels. Such warnings would not constitute consumer education; they would be more likely to confuse or even mislead consumers. Producers and purveyors of alcoholic beverages are heavily involved in the sponsorship of sports clubs and cultural organisations and of the events in which they participate. A ban on the sponsorship of youth events would ultimately deprive clubs of vital income. Why should a brewery which sponsors an adult sports event for a club or association not be allowed to make its marquee available for a youth event too? Whether a ban on sponsorship would actually have an educational impact is a moot question. The most likely effect is that the clubs and associations could no longer afford to stage youth events, which means that young people would be the losers at the end of the day. Alcohol, tobacco and drugs are three distinct problems and need to be treated differently. I hope we are addressing each of these problems, and indeed I am sure that we do address them on an everyday basis. I therefore ask the House to refrain from any attempt to lump these three very important issues together in this report.

Political group: PPE-DE