BRUSSELS, 25 April 2013: Speaking at the European Alcohol and Health Forum (EAHF), The Brewers of Europe announced progress on implementation of the European Beer Pledge, including a new landmark partnership with the European Transport Safety Council.

Launched one year ago in the presence of the EAHF Chair, the Pledge promised actions to increase consumer knowledge, ensure responsible advertising and directly address alcohol misuse.  A new report, assured by KPMG, shows how Europe’s brewers have stepped up, numerically, geographically and in scope and kept their promise that the Pledge would deliver.

In her foreword to the report, MEP Renate Sommer writes, “I welcomed the commitment to report annually on the implementation and I was impressed to read this first report. It shows brewers’ commitment not just to words, but to action!”

The report highlights that progress on the ground owes much to The Brewers of Europe’s commitment to partnering at all levels, including by developing toolkits for the use of brewers and other stakeholders. The new landmark ‘SMART’ partnership between The Brewers of Europe and the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) is an example of this approach.

The three-year Sober Mobility Across Road Transport (SMART) partnership is the first ever joint commitment to the EAHF made by a pan-European business association in collaboration with a leading pan-European NGO. It will deliver guidelines, best practice case studies, dialogue at national level and engage interested stakeholders.

The President of The Brewers of Europe, Mr. Demetrio Carceller welcomed the partnership, stating “This first interim report’s publication is coinciding with the launch by the European Transport Safety Council of a pioneering three-year project against drink driving. The Brewers of Europe is delighted to be partnering with ETSC.” The project builds on The Brewers’ leading role in the EAHF and long tradition of supporting drink driving reduction schemes across Europe.

Carceller added that while the Beer Pledge is a work in progress and that many projects cannot yet be reported upon, the ambitious nature of the Beer Pledge shows that the EU’s multi-stakeholder, voluntary approach is working. “I can commit that implementing the Beer Pledge will remain a major priority for The Brewers of Europe, its member associations and individual brewing companies.”

Media contact

Simon Spillane: +32 2 551 18 10, sws@brewersofeurope.org

About The Brewers of Europe

For more than a half century The Brewers of Europe has been the Brussels-based voice of the European brewing sector towards the European institutions and international organisations. Founded in 1958, it has 28 members, comprising 24 national brewer associations from the EU, Croatia, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey. Among the roughly 3,500 brewers across Europe, the vast majority are small and medium-sized, local and family-run businesses. 2 million jobs are created by the European brewing sector. www.brewersofeurope.org

About the European Beer Pledge

The European Beer Pledge is a voluntary initiative launched in February 2012 by Europe’s brewers to support EU Member States in reducing alcohol related harm. Brewers commit to taking concerted and measurable action to improve consumer information, ensure responsible advertising and address alcohol misuse in line with the expectations of citizens and EU policymakers.

About the Report

The European Beer Pledge should be reported on annually, to allow for a regular monitoring of progress but also further opportunities to identify, evaluate and expand best practice activities. This report constitutes the first year interim report on the European Beer Pledge’s implementation. Focusing on activities supported by members of The Brewers of Europe during and since 2012, this interim report represents a snapshot of initiatives carried out by brewers, through associations, companies and broad coalitions, in line with and contributing to, the implementation of the three pillars of the European Beer Pledge. For full report see:

http://www.brewersofeurope.org/asp/publications/index.asp

About the Sober Mobility Across Road Transport (SMART) partnership

In the framework of the three-year SMART project ETSC will:

• Publish a set of guidelines on rehabilitation programmes for certain categories of drivers convicted for drink driving. The guidelines will also be through a conference that will be organised in Brussels ;
• Identify and publish case studies on best practice in addressing drink driving: these could come from, among others, individuals, companies, medical professionals, young people, NGOs dedicated to the fight against drink driving;
• Organise a series of six national events to highlight and debate strategies to tackle drink driving in specific countries;
• Organise a lunch conference addressing ways of reducing drink driving in the workplace;
• Publish regularly the ETSC newsletter ‘Drink Driving Monitor’, one of the best known and read ETSC publications. Each Drink Driving Monitor will be accompanied by the ‘Alcohol Interlock Barometer’, which provides an overview of the legislative developments related to the use of alcohol interlock devices in tackling drink driving.