In her State of the European Union speech last month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signalled her desire for a “stronger European Health Union”. Though health remains a national competence – and is likely to remain one – greater coherence in health services of EU countries, cooperation between Member States and strengthened crisis preparedness and management are to be prioritised by the European Commission.
This is evidenced in a number of policy initiatives which seek to invest in health services and make the lives of Europeans healthier – including EU4Health, Farm2Fork and the Europe Beating Cancer Plan.
spiritsEUROPE supports policy recommendations that will work to reduce the harmful consumption of alcohol and are happy to share our views and positions on how the private sector can best contribute towards this goal.
As part of this effort, spiritsEUROPE participated in a policy debate organized by the Italian think tank I-COM which took place on 29 September at the European Parliament and discussed best practice approaches in harm reduction for prevention. Following presentations from MEPs Peter Liese (EPP, Germany), Dolors Monserrat (EPP, Spain) and industry representatives, spiritsEUROPE Director-General Ulrich Adam spoke to the importance of pragmatic and whole-of-society approaches – involving the private sector where appropriate and showing that all stakeholders have a part to play. Mr Adam reiterated that restrictive measures are not always the most efficient and effective – better instead to advise consumers on how best to enjoy alcohol – in moderation and responsibly.
The event was accompanied by the publication of an i-COM report on prevention and harm reduction policies, to which spiritsEUROPE contributed. We provided evidence on the effectiveness and success of a number of responsible drinking initiatives and were heartened to see the report’s authors agree with our initiatives – it was recommended that focus remains on education and awareness campaigns, along with screening and brief interventions.
