Other countries could take the same Irish route, especially Northern Europe where heavy alcohol consumption is recorded. For the Irish authorities it is “a national health emergency”.
In June, Eire notified the EU of a draft law to put warnings on bottles about the health risks of alcohol consumption and its direct link to deadly cancers. Rome, Paris and Madrid, together with six other capitals, tried to oppose it by putting the protest on paper with an opinion sent to Brussels which highlighted how the Irish exception discriminates against producers from other EU countries, forced to adopt a double label. The criticisms don’t end there: there are several voices, including from the private sector, which do not understand the green light for the Irish law when it was the EU executive itself that announced its intention to proceed closely with new rules at the Community level. This circumstance could now discourage Ireland itself from taking initiatives in the short term.
“Brussels’ silent assent to health warnings on alcohol labels represents a dangerous leap forward by a member country”, comments the president of the Italian Wine Union (UIV), Lamberto Frescobaldi. Federvini also calls for a stop to the “mutism” of the EU executive and appeals to the government “to study every possible action to oppose a rule that contrasts with common sense and reality”.
Confagricoltura: “Prohibitionist drift”
For Cia-Agricoltori Italiani, the scenario “is disconcerting and compromises the work done up to now at the Community level with the Cancer Plan”. The president of Confagricoltura Massimiliano Giansanti then speaks of a “prohibitionist drift”. For De Castro, the way forward is the one indicated by the European Parliament: more transparent labeling systems for “moderate and responsible” consumption and a categorical “no” to equate wine to cigarettes. With Brussels’ yes now in its pocket, Ireland is just waiting for the decision of the World Trade Organisation.
