European Commission EU Action to reduce alcohol related harm: recent developments and next steps Ceri Thompson Team Leader: Alcohol and Drugs DG Health and Consumers European Commission

2 of 8 Alcohol Strategy timeline  Council Recommendation in 2001 included examples of good practice  Alcohol in Europe report  Health Impact Assessment  EU Alcohol Strategy October 2006  Endorsed by  Council Conclusions November 2007  EP Report August 2007  First progress report presented to the EU Expert Conference on Alcohol and Health September2009

European Commission 3 of 8 The situation in 2006  Third largest risk factor for ill health in the EU  12% of male and 2% of female premature deaths under age of 75 years  195,000 premature deaths per year in EU  27,000 deaths from alcohol related accidents (1 in 4 road deaths)  50,000 cancer deaths

European Commission 4 of 8 The situation in 2009  No new health outcome or road safety figures  Fairly stable alcohol consumption trends  New information on  Attitudes (EB survey)  Behaviours (e.g. ESPAD study shows changes to consumption patterns in EU, e.g. binge drinking increasing in some countries among young women)  Extent of health inequalities between MS  The role of affordability and pricing policy  New changes to the landscape (economic downturn across EU – impact unknown)

European Commission 5 of 8 Structure for implementation

European Commission 6 of 8 What else is new since 2006  The Commission and the EP  Council Conclusions  Legal framework (new Treaty with references to alcohol)  New EESC opinion  For 2010:  Global Alcohol Strategy  WHO report on the Economic and Social costs of Alcohol

European Commission 7 of 8 Conclusions  Post strategy consensus  Structures now in place for implementation and increasingly operational  We are seeing a steady convergence of MS actions (age limits increasing, BAC limits lowering)  Political and legal framework for alcohol at EU level is in transition  Current strategy ends in 2012

European Commission 8 of 8 Merci! Thank you! DG Health and Consumers European Commission, Brussels