Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on an EU strategy to support Member States in reducing alcohol-related harm
Date: 2007-06-06
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU policy, alcoholism, consumer protection, public awareness campaign, public health, transport accident, young person

C 197/48

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

24.8.2007

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on an EU strategy to support Member States in reducing
alcohol-related harm

(2007/C 197/08)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

— welcomes the fact that the Commission has no intention of substituting Community action for
national policies, which have already been put in place in most of the Member States, or to propose
the development of harmonised legislation in the field of preventing alcohol-related harm; shares the
Commission's view that the national policies which have already been put in place in most of the
Member States relate to national competences in accordance with Article 152 of the EC Treaty and
the subsidiarity principle;

— would point out that in executing its plan to map out actions which have already been put in place
by Member States and to identify best practices, and in particular to identify areas which it feels offer
scope for further progress, the Commission must not go beyond the objectives and competences
assigned to it under the Treaties;

— shares the Commission's view that, in the field of health policy, Article 152 of the EC Treaty provides
for a clear division of tasks between the European Union and the Member States, with EU action
confined to complementing national policies;

— disagrees with the Commission's view that there is a need for a common definition of the term

‘binge-drinking’ to prevent and cut back heavy and extreme drinking patterns;

— strongly doubts the benefit to be gained by the Commission's proposal to analyse differences in
drinking patterns by country, age and gender. The same applies to the proposed system for flexible
but standardised definitions for alcohol data and the conducting of repeated and comparative surveys
on alcohol consumption, which, in view of the diversity of cultural habits related to alcohol consump-
tion which the Commission itself acknowledges, is very unlikely to provide much in the way of new
information.

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 197/49

I. Policy recommendations

Communication from the Commission to the Council, the Euro-
pean Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee
and the Committee of
the Regions — An EU strategy to
support Member States in reducing alcohol-related harm

COM(2006) 625 final

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

On the communication from the Commission

would point out that the health risks of harmful and
1.
hazardous alcohol consumption have long been the subject of
social and political debate. In this context, it is understandable
that the European Commission has chosen to tackle this subject
and to place particular emphasis on preventing and cutting back
heavy and extreme drinking patterns, as well as under-age
drinking, alcohol-related road accidents and Foetal Alcohol
Syndrome;

in view of the different cultural habits related to alcohol
2.
consumption in the various Member States, considers it impor-
tant that the communication focuses not on drinking itself, but
on alcohol misuse and its harmful consequences;

3.
also welcomes the fact that the Commission has no inten-
tion of substituting Community action for national policies,
which have already been put in place in most of the Member
States, or to propose the development of harmonised legislation
in the field of preventing alcohol-related harm; shares the
Commission's view that the national policies which have already
been put
the Member States relate to
national competences in accordance with Article 152 of the
EC Treaty and the subsidiarity principle;

in place in most of

4.
in this context, would point out that in executing its plan
to map out actions which have already been put in place by
Member States and to identify best practices, and in particular
to identify areas which it feels offer scope for further progress,
the Commission must not go beyond the objectives and compe-
tences assigned to it under the Treaties;

5.
is pleased that when discussing measures to support and
complement national policies implemented by Member States,
the Commission takes explicit account of the fact that drinking
patterns and cultures vary widely across the EU;

related to harmful

health effects
alcohol
consumption, and that most Member States have already taken
steps to reduce alcohol-related harm;

and hazardous

takes note of

8.
strategy to support
the Commission's
Member States in reducing alcohol-related harm but does not,
for reasons of subsidiarity, and also in view of the different
cultural habits related to alcohol consumption acknowledged by
the Commission in its Communication agree that potentially
similar problems in different Member States necessarily require
an EU-wide approach to resolve them;

On the case for action

9.
shares the Commission's view that harmful and hazardous
alcohol consumption has a major impact on public health and
thus also generates costs related to health care, health insurance,
law enforcement and public order, and workplaces, and thus has
a negative impact on economic development and on society as
a whole. Young people are particularly at risk. In view of this,
there is a real need for policies aimed at the prevention and
treatment of harmful alcohol consumption;

On the priority themes and good practices

agrees with the Commission that harmful alcohol
10.
consumption among young people in particular has a negative
impact not only on health and social wellbeing, but also on
educational attainment and involvement in the social and demo-
cratic life of the community to which they belong; also notes
increasing trends in under-age ‘binge-drinking’ in many Member
States. It is particularly important in the Member States, there-
fore, also to discuss public policy measures designed to curb
under-age drinking and harmful drinking patterns among youth,
bearing in mind that any legislative measures must be con-
sidered and prepared with particular care in the Member States
so as not
to reach the people
concerned because of the repressive nature of the measures
involved;

to make it more difficult

11.
shares the Commission's view that effective enforcement
of national and regional drink-driving countermeasures could
substantially reduce traffic deaths, injuries and disability;

On the mandate for action

6.
shares the Commission's view that, in the field of health
policy, Article 152 of the EC Treaty provides for a clear division
of tasks between the European Union and the Member States,
with EU action confined to complementing national policies;

recommends that, by developing a common evidence
12.
base at EU level as envisaged in the communication,
the
Commission take steps to assess the impact of moderate alcohol
consumption and arrive at a common definition of ‘harmful
and hazardous consumption’;

7.
shares the Commission's view that many Member States
already have extensive policies in place to address the adverse

13.
disagrees with the Commission's view that there is a
need for a common definition of the term ‘binge-drinking’ to
prevent and cut back heavy and extreme drinking patterns;

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Official Journal of the European Union

24.8.2007

14.
would welcome a research initiative to estimate the cost
and benefits of policy options as this would also help assess the
impact of various campaigns designed to prevent alcohol-related
harm;

15.
strongly doubts the benefit to be gained by the Commis-
sion's proposal to analyse differences in drinking patterns by
country, age and gender. The same applies to the proposed
system for flexible but standardised definitions for alcohol data
and the conducting of repeated and comparative surveys on
alcohol consumption, which, in view of the diversity of cultural
habits related to alcohol consumption which the Commission
itself acknowledges, is very unlikely to provide much in the way
of new information;

16.
apart from this, would strongly emphasise that imple-
menting the EU strategy to support Member States in reducing
alcohol-related harm must not impose a financial burden on
regional and local authorities;

On levels of action

in view of the Member States' full competence, in this
17.
area which the Commission clearly acknowledges, welcomes the
Commission's approach to initiating and supporting measures
on three different levels of action to address the adverse health
effects related to harmful and hazardous alcohol consumption;

18.
in principle welcomes moves to support — in particular
in cooperation with the Member States — strategies aimed at
curbing under-age drinking, and recommends that the Commis-
sion's plans to set up an Alcohol and Health Forum be imple-
mented as an integral part of the EU Platform for Action on
Diet, Physical Activity and Health in order to ensure a cohesive
approach and, at the same time, help cut back on red tape and
the proliferation of official bodies, as advocated by the Commis-
sion on numerous occasions. EU-level work on alcohol and
health should focus on sharing knowledge and exchanging best
practice on the basis of
the measures already in place at
national, regional and local levels;

19.
welcomes the Commission's idea of examining how
research at the European level can bring value to an EU strategy
to support Member States to reduce alcohol related harm, as
part of the 7th Research Framework Programme;

Brussels, 6 June 2007.

is very pleased that

20.
the Commission communication
addresses and takes due account of national measures and
approaches to reducing alcohol abuse; with this in mind, agrees
specific measures adopted by
with the Commission that
Member States to reduce alcohol-related harm with a view to
protecting public health, are based on their particular cultural
contexts;

strongly agrees with the Commission that national strate-
21.
gies could be more effective if they were supported by local and
community-based activities; with this in mind, welcomes any
involvement of regional and local decision-makers in EU activ-
ities under Article 152 of the EC Treaty;

agrees with the Commission that

22.
local communities
could contribute to preventive and supportive strategies to
protect citizens from alcohol-related harm, but would emphasise
that this is already happening in many places and therefore
takes note of the Commission's strategy to support local and
regional authorities;

23.
with regard to coordination of actions at EU level,
would refer to Article 152 of the EC Treaty, which definitively
establishes a clear division of tasks between the European Union
and the Member States, with EU action confined to comple-
menting national policies; the Commission's efforts to make
policy decisions more consistent must not result in infringe-
ments of this clear separation of powers; is therefore opposed to
the introduction of harmonised warning labels, which the
Commission contemplates in its communication; at the same
time,
is firmly in favour of self-regulatory approaches in the
advertising industry;

On the conclusions

that

agrees

24.
the Commission's main contribution to
alcohol policies should be to complement national policies and
strategies in this field.
Indeed, this is the role envisaged by
Article 152 of the EC Treaty; is very pleased that, in view of the
clear division of powers between the EU and Member States, the
Commission is not planning to submit any new legislative
proposals;

also welcomes the fact that in, implementing the strategy,
25.
the Commission is placing particular emphasis on the principles
of subsidiarity and better regulation.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Michel DELEBARRE

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 197/51

II. Procedure

Title

Reference

Legal basis

Procedural basis

Date of Commission referral

Date of Bureau decision

Commission responsible

Rapporteur

Communication from the Commission to the Council, the
European Parliament, the European Economic and Social
Committee
the Regions —
An EU strategy to support Member States in reducing alco-
hol-related harm

and the Committee of

COM(2006) 625 final

Article 265(1) EC Treaty

—

24.10.2006

25.4.2006

Commission for Sustainable Development (DEVE)

Mr Hoff, Minister for Federal and European Affairs, Land of
Hesse

Explanatory memorandum

22.12.2006

Discussed in commission

Date adopted by commission

Result of the vote in commission

Date adopted in plenary

Previous Committee opinions

6.3.2007

6.3.2007

majority

6.6.2007

—