“Beating Cancer Plan”, lights and shadows from the resolution of Eu Parliament, towards plenary vote

While the wine industry, and the alcoholic beverages sector more broadly, is facing with structural challenges such as climate change, as well as more immediate issues such as difficulties across global markets, another question remains in the background: the broader trend toward increasing health consciousness, which, according to many, has at times taken on an almost ideological or Manichean character. Many studies also identify it as one of the main drivers behind the decline in consumption, including moderate consumption, that we are currently witnessing. The issue continues to be debated within the European Union, from where significant developments have emerged in recent hours, developments which could fairly be described as a mixed picture for the sector. In form, which is important, the focus is no longer on penalizing alcohol consumption in general, but rather on “harmful consumption” of alcohol. In substance, however, measures are being called for such as clearly visible health information on all alcoholic beverages, as well as a revision of a European strategy aimed at eliminating alcohol consumption among minors and reducing exposure to alcohol advertising. In essence, this is the picture that emerged from a resolution approved by a majority of members of the European Parliament Committee on Public Health in Strasbourg in recent days (27 votes in favor, 8 against, and 4 abstentions), assessing the revision of the European Union Beating Cancer Plan, which is expected to be voted on in plenary session in the coming weeks.
More broadly, according to a statement from the Health Committee, the EU Multiannual Financial Framework should allocate at least 10.05 billion euros to health, including 2.5 billion euros specifically for cancer-related actions. Furthermore, in a comprehensive document reiterating that “prevention is the most cost-effective cancer control strategy in the long term”, stressing the need for dedicated funding to improve preventive policies and access to screening, diagnosis, and treatment services, and proposing restrictions on a range of issues, including alternative electronic tobacco devices and higher excise duties on tobacco and nicotine products, as well as a mandatory, EU-wide harmonized nutritional label for food products, the section concerning alcoholic beverages, and therefore wine, is also particularly significant.
Specifically, regarding “ethanol in alcoholic beverages”, the European Parliament “recalls the Commission intention, as expressed in the European Beating Cancer Plan, to introduce mandatory ingredient lists and nutrition declarations on the labels of all alcoholic beverages; acknowledges the progress made by the alcoholic beverages sector in digital labeling and the inclusion of ingredient lists by the wine sector, but regrets the still limited progress in introducing mandatory ingredient lists, nutrition declarations, and health information on all alcoholic beverages”. At the same time, while urging the Commission and Member States to invest in preventing alcohol-related harm, Parliament calls on the Commission “to present, without further delay, legislative proposals in this area requiring clearly visible health information on all alcoholic beverages, complemented by digital labeling”, emphasizing that “such measures should pay particular attention to protecting minors, young people, and other vulnerable groups”. Furthermore, Parliament “calls on the Commission and Member States to promote actions aimed at reducing and preventing alcohol-related harm and to present a revised EU alcohol strategy, including a European strategy aimed at eliminating alcohol consumption among minors”, as well as to “develop awareness-raising initiatives targeted particularly at minors, providing clear information about alcohol-related harm, promoting informed choices, and helping people better understand the health effects of harmful alcohol consumption, especially at levels exceeding those recommended by evidence-based health guidelines”.
In addition, Parliament believes that the Commission should “propose appropriate measures at EU level to reduce exposure to advertising and other forms of promotion of alcoholic beverages, particularly among minors and in digital environments, as part of cancer prevention initiatives”. It also calls for “regulatory measures to prevent the advertising and sponsorship of alcoholic beverages in contexts where they could reach minors”.
All of these proposed legislative measures, the text further states, are based on a number of considerations reiterated by Parliament. For example: “whereas ethanol and acetaldehyde produced through the metabolism of ethanol contained in alcoholic beverages are classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (Iarc) as carcinogenic to humans; whereas, according to Oecd estimates, if the envisaged targets were achieved, up to one million additional cancer cases could be prevented between 2023 and 2050”.
“Every year, cancer claims the lives of 1.3 million Europeans. Forty percent of these deaths are preventable. With this report, we are calling for stronger prevention, robust funding, accountability from all stakeholders, and patient-centred monitoring. Europe Beating Cancer Plan could save up to half a million lives every year. We owe it to all EU citizens, in every Member State”, concludes rapporteur Vlad Voiculescu.
The revision process of the Beca Plan therefore continues. And while, at least in its underlying rationale, it appears to place alcohol consumption and alcohol abuse (or harmful consumption) on different levels, without distinguishing between different categories of alcoholic beverages, it also proposes a series of regulatory initiatives that, if implemented, could make life even more difficult for businesses in the sector, including wineries. It could also affect the daily lives of those who freely choose to enjoy a glass of wine or another alcoholic beverage in moderation. The strategy, without formally or directly banning the consumption of a particular product, aims to make it progressively less desirable and less socially acceptable.