Eurocare Press
Release
European
Parliament votes against Lulling report on minimum excise duties on alcohol
Eurocare welcomes the results of the voting
in the European Parliament on the minimum excise duties
The
Members of the European Parliament have today voted against the adoption of the
report prepared by the vice-chairman of the Beer group in the European
Parliament, the MEP from
Eurocare welcomes the results of this voting against
this proposal
that serves the interests of the alcohol industry at the expense of the
interests of the health and social wellbeing of European citizens.
The report prepared by Ms Astrid
Lulling, contained two major proposals that where of great concern to the
health NGOs, namely;
- The elimination of the minimum excise
duties on alcohol
- A Code of Conduct establishing that those Member
States levying excise duty rates above the EU average should freeze and reduce
them gradually.
By treating alcohol merely as a product
that is traded the report ignored the fact that alcohol is responsible for 7,4%
of all ill-health and premature death, is the cause of some 60 diseases and
conditions; and it is also a key cause of harm to people other than the drinker,
including crime, violence and injuries, and therefore should not be regarded
simply as an ordinary commodity.
Andrew McNeil, Honorary Secretary of
Eurocare, the European Alcohol Policy Alliance, welcomed the results of the
voting and said that “by treating
alcohol as an ordinary economic commodity the proposal from Ms Lulling failed
to incorporate health concerns and therefore breached the Treaty’s obligation
to ensure a high level of human health protection in the definition and
implementation of all Community policies and activities”. McNeil added that “evidence
shows that price and tax measures are an effective policy option in reducing the
harm done by alcohol and young people are
particularly sensitive to price. Member States who have adopted high excise
duties, have done so in the interest of public health rather than economic
benefit. The measures proposed in the Lulling report would only penalize and
increase the pressure on those Member States that have chosen to regulate
alcohol taxes as a means of protecting citizen welfare.”
Socialist
spokeswoman on the report, Donata Gottardi: "alcohol consumption can be
affected by the rate of excise duties and for many governments in
Ends:
Several studies have demonstrated that
price and tax measures are an effective policy option in reducing the harm done
by alcohol and that young people are
particularly sensitive to price. Policies that increase alcohol taxes and prices
have been shown to reduce the proportion of young people who are heavy
drinkers, to reduce underage drinking, to reduce per occasion binge drinking. They also delay intentions among younger teenagers to start
drinking and slow progression towards drinking larger amounts. Heavy
drinkers are also very sensitive to increases in prices.
Research also
shows that such measures lead to reductions in deaths from liver cirrhosis,
fatality rates from traffic crashes, and reduced rates of crime, including
assault, violence related injury, homicide, family violence, and child abuse
and other violence towards children.
Imposing
taxes on alcohol also helps governments to meet the fiscal costs of alcohol
related harm, it is a way of ‘internalising’ these costs to the sellers and
drinkers in proportion to the alcohol consumed, rather than being met by all
taxpayers.
Notes to the editors:
1.- Report on the proposal for a
Council directive amending Directive 92/84/EEC on the approximation of the
rates of excise duty on alcohol and alcoholic beverages
(COM(2006)0486
– C6-0319/2006 – 2006/0165(CNS))
2.-EUROCARE is an
alliance of 45 voluntary and non-governmental organisations from all over
Europe dedicated to promote the prevention and reduction of alcohol related
harm in
http://www.eurocare.org
3. Media contacts:
Tel: + 44 1480 466766
Eurocare EU Liaison Office
Tel: +32 2 736 39 76