EU: Czech Beer and Malt Association has finally joined the Brewers of Europe

The Czech Beer and Malt Association (ČSPAS) has finally joined the Brewers of Europe (BoE), a Brussels-based organization representing the brewing industry, ČSPAS chairman Jan Veselý announced at a press conference January 19.

Czech Business News commented that Swedish lobbyists have proposed higher EU-wide taxes and advertising restrictions for beer, a move Czech and other brewers oppose. The Swedish proposals call for all EU states to follow that country’s model of excise taxation. All fermented products would be classified and taxed at the same, higher level, putting beer in the same category as whisky and vodka. The proposal would also ban all advertising for all products containing alcohol, and forbid breweries from publicizing scientific findings about any beneficial health effects of beer.

The Czech Republic, Germany and Spain have the lowest excise taxes on beer within the EU, while Sweden has the highest, Veselý said. “The freedom of European open markets is threatened by draft legislation being reviewed in the European Parliament,” said Rodolphe de Looz-Corswarem, the secretary general of BoE. If passed into law, the draft legislation would have a “strongly negative” effect on the Czech and European brewing sectors, reducing their competitiveness and hampering sales, he said.

“The debate on excise taxes will soon take place in the EU,” said Luděk Kraus, the public affairs manager at leading Czech brewing group Plzeňský Prazdroj. “The bad or good results will have a significant effect on the industry.”

There’s also a draft in the European Parliament that would require warning labels to be attached to every bottle and can of beer sold in Europe.

De Looz-Corswarem said the long-standing tradition of drinking beer in many EU countries shouldn’t be eradicated by “overharmonization at the request of lobbyists.” He added that such moves go against the concept of open European markets.

Additional regulatory hurdles for brewers, suppliers and everyone in the hospitality industry aren’t welcome. “Any regulations that will harm our competitiveness are a threat,” Prazdroj’s Kraus said. He added that issues of advertising regulations and tax issues are of the “highest importance” to everyone in the industry.

Self-regulation, as opposed to restrictions such as an advertising ban and increased taxes, is the only efficient way to ensure that the brewing industry develops in a healthy way, according to Vincent LeFere, the managing director of Pivovary Staropramen, the country’s second largest brewing group.

“The alcohol industry has become one of the areas attracting legislators’ attention, not only here, but also elsewhere in the EU,” LeFere said. The lobbying work carried out by BoE is respected and listened to, and “now Czech brewers will be active on the European scene as well.”

The Czech brewing industry has been enjoying several years of sustained expansion, mostly thanks to exports to other EU countries. Czech beer exports increased from 2.6 million hectoliters in 2004 to more than 3 million hectoliters last year, for the first time in history. Total production in 2005 topped 19 million hectoliters.

The brewing industry contributes significantly to the economy. According to BoE statistics, the industry accounts for 1.2 % of all employment in the entire EU, considering direct and indirect employment, with total revenues of E 57.5 billion (Kč 1.7 billion), or 0.55 % of total European GDP.

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