National alcohol policies in European countries

The way in which alcohol policies have been implemented in the different European countries varies. A selection of policy actions is summerised and similarities and differences between countries are mentioned below (Anderson & Baumberg, 2006).

• Education and public awareness: Most countries have a minimum of school-based education programmes.
• Drink-driving countermeasures: All countries have some form of drink-driving restrictions. The Maximum BAL is 0,5g/L in all EU-25 countries, except in the UK, Ireland and Luxembourg. However, such restrictions are not optimaly enforced in all EU countries.
• Restrictions on the availability of alcohol: Most EU countries have restrictions on the sale of alcohol: in a few cases (Nordic countries) through retail monopolies, more often though through licences. All European countries have legal age limits for the sale of alcohol in bars and pubs, but not all have such age limits for shops. The actual age limit also varies between countries, with it being 18 years in most northern European countries and 16 in most southern European countries.

• Advertising controls: Alcohol marketing is controlled in different ways across Europe. The control measures employed varies for different types of marketing. For example: TV marketing restrictions are more common than billboard marketing restrictions. The EU-10 countries mostly have uncontrolled advertising environments, while the EU-15 countries mostly have voluntary agreements in place. In France and Sweden, as well as in the non-EU country of Norway, a total legal ban on TV advertising of alcohol has been implemented.
• Pricing and taxation: Taxation is a commonly employed policy that has been implemented in a wide range of different ways across Europe. The highest average effective tax rate on alcohol has largely been implemented in northern Europe, and the lowest in southern and parts of central and eastern Europe. Five countries, namely Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland and Luxembourg, started introducing a tax on alcopops from 2004 onwards (EC, 2006a) .