Brussels, 12/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 11 March, the environment, public health and food safety (ENVI) committee of the European Parliament adopted a resolution by Romana Jordan (EPP, Slovenia) and Marina Yannakoudakis (ECR, United Kingdom) on the implementation of the European strategy to fight alcohol abuse. The MEPs call for concrete measures in this area and invite the European Commission to draft an action plan for the coming years, to be presented by September. “Excessive drinking can cause serious damage to individuals and society as a whole (…). I'm delighted that the committee on the environment has sent a clear signal to the Commission for decisive, effective and modernised action”, said Jordan. “We need to improve how we get the message out about drinking (…) We especially need to make sure that expectant mothers and younger people are aware of the facts of drinking and that there is better treatment in place to help those with alcohol-related problems”, said Yannakoudakis.
Europeans are the biggest consumers of alcohol in the world and more than a fifth of the population aged 15 and above admits to drinking alcohol to excess at least once a week (in other words, at least five alcoholic drinks over the course of an evening). In 2006, the European Commission launched a strategy to fight excessive alcohol consumption. Today, this strategy will be updated and the MEPs call on the Commission to prepare a new action plan for the period 2016-2022. The member states in turn are called upon to step up their efforts to arrange more awareness campaigns on the dangers of alcohol, targeting the public and particularly young people and pregnant women. They must also make young people aware of the part alcohol plays in road traffic accidents, as young people are more likely than any other group to be a victim of these. The member states must also apply the restrictions in place on advertising alcoholic drinks more rigourously. Lastly, the sales of alcohol to minors and the sales of alcohol over the internet should be covered by stricter measures. However, the ENVI committee opposes minimum unit pricing for alcohol across all 28 member states, taking the view that the member states themselves should decide on their own pricing policies. (IL)