Brussels, 11/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission proposes that the Council should adopt a Recommendation (non binding legislative text) for inviting the Member States to take measures with a view to tackling the problem of under-age drinking through education, information and strengthened enforcement of national rules on alcohol sales. The proposed Recommendation also invites alcohol producers and retailers to communicate responsibly and to enforce self-regulatory rules on advertising. The national governments are invited to elaborate with the industry codes of conduct to ensure that manufacturers do not target alcoholic products at children and adolescents and that alcoholic beverages are not designed or promoted to appeal particularly to the young. The Commission stresses that it does not intend to ban alcohol advertising. It does, however, consider there is a need for scrutiny of commercial communication and of national self-regulatory codes of good practice with respect to advertising targeted at young people.