EU Health Ministers meeting in Luxembourg today for their Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) will discuss alcohol consumption in the context of public health objectives.
We welcome debates that aim to address alcohol abuse and the Polish Presidency of the EU’s commitment to adding this topic to the EPSCO agenda. Europe’s brewers believe that beer should be enjoyed responsibly since, consumed in moderation, beer can be perfectly compatible with a healthy adult’s balanced lifestyle.
As well as producing refreshing beers – including non-alcohol options – our members also promote responsibility and moderation through initiatives, like our Beer Pledge, which are designed to curb excessive and underage drinking. We support best practises to prevent binge drinking: we want people to savour our drinks, not abuse them. And today we can see that Europe’s efforts are bearing results, with record low levels of alcohol-related harm.
The World Health Organisation’s Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health, published at the end of 2024, shows that since 2010, harmful drinking and alcohol-related mortality have declined by more than 20% in the EU. Drink driving fatalities in the EU have also fallen 30% in a decade.
More recently, the 2025 ESPAD survey of nearly 114,000 European students aged 15-16 years, carried out in collaboration with the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA), shows a long-term decline in underage drinking and excessive drinking by adolescents across Europe. Binge drinking amongst this age group has fallen by almost 30% since 2007. The percentage having consumed 5 or more drinks on a single occasion in the past 30 days peaked at 42% but had dropped to 30% by 2024, the lowest level ever in ESPAD’s thirty years.
At the same time as harmful drinking across the European population has been falling dramatically, we see record levels of non-alcohol beer consumption – with NA beer now accounting for around 1 in 15 beers consumed in the EU. While beer is already the low alcohol choice, brewers are also providing a variety of flavoursome options for those who wish to have a beer but not consume alcohol. Since it is Poland that has placed this item on the agenda of the EU, it is also of particular interest that this country has risen to being the third biggest NA beer market in Europe, doubling in the last 5 years.
And all this is taking place amid the ongoing discussions in New York leading up to the Fourth United Nations High-level Meeting on Non-Communicable Disease (NCDs) in September. Our position with regard to alcohol is that the focus must remain on harmful use, not on stigmatising the products per se – whilst we advocate for a ‘whole of society’ approach where governments team up with civil society and business to meet their objectives.
Prevention is most effective when it adapts to changing trends and is grounded in real-world evidence. As Europe’s brewers, we take pride in supporting this evolution. We raise our glass in recognition of progress — and to the promise of a future where beer is enjoyed responsibly and in moderation.