Post on 28-Jul-2018
Thomas Karlsson
”Nordic alcohol policy – in what form does it exist?”
Nordic alcohol policy –
in what form does it exist?
Thomas Karlsson
Researcher
Department of Alcohol, Drugs and Addiction
20/10/2011 Nordic alcohol policy… / Thomas Karlsson
• Alcohol consumption in the Nordic countries.
• Nordic alcohol policy. Background, development and current status.
• Alcohol policy goes international. Recent developments.
• Does Nordic alcohol policy exist? – Conclusions
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Contents:
• In most of Europe alcohol consumption has been unchanged or on the decrease since the mid-1970s. In Iceland, Norway and Finland, however, consumption has been going up and in Sweden and Denmark alcohol consumption was roughly at the same level in 2010 as in the middle of the 1970s.
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Alcohol consumption in the Nordic countries 1961-2009
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Denmark Finland Norway Sweden Iceland
Finland
Iceland
Norway
Sweden
Denmark
• The consumption of spirits was growing in the 1960s and
early 1970s in all Nordic countries until it levelled out or
took a downturn in the mid-1970s. The present
consumption of spirits is clearly lower than in the middle of
the 1970s, and in Sweden even lower than in the early
1960s.
• Wine consumption on the other hand has increased in all
Nordic countries during the past 50 years.
• It seems also that beer consumption has grown, although
the trends have not been uniform all the countries.
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Alcohol consumption by beverage type
• On the European scale, alcohol consumption in Finland and Denmark is on the
upper-middle level. The Finns drink alcohol more than the Italians and Greeks and
almost as much as the French. The highest consumption in Europe can be found in
countries like the Czech Republic, Hungary and Ireland. Iceland and Norway are
among the countries with the lowest alcohol consumption in Europe.
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Alcohol consumption in the Nordic countries 2010, in 100 % alcohol
8.1 8.46.1 5.3 5.4
1.9 0.9
1.61.3 0.5
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Finland Denmark Sweden Norway IcelandRecorded Unrecorded
10.09.3
7.76.7
5.9
Litres per capita
Nordic alcohol policy… / Thomas Karlsson
Alcohol consumption in the Nordic countries, 2010
• Total alcohol consumption is an excellent indicator
for the level of alcohol-related harms in a society.
• Alcohol consumption figures and especially changes in them reflects fairly well general and specific societal and political changes.
• Therefore consumption data works both as an indicator on ongoing changes and situation as well as a predictor of future alcohol-related harm.
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Why is the level of alcohol consumption important and interesting from a research point of view?
• Alcohol consumption in the Nordic countries.
• Nordic alcohol policy. Background, development and current status.
• Alcohol policy goes international. Recent developments.
• Does Nordic alcohol policy exist? – Conclusions
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Contents:
• Traditionally alcohol policy in the Nordic countries, with the exception of Denmark, has rested on three main pillars, regarded as the cornerstones of Nordic alcohol policy.
• These are: 1) restrictions on private profit interest in the alcohol
business, 2) restrictions on the physical availability of alcoholic
beverages, and 3) restrictions on the economic availability of alcoholic
beverages by means of high taxation.
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Nordic alcohol policy (1/2)
• During the past few decades, however, these pillars have gradually began to crumble.
• An important factor behind this chain of events has been the Europeanization process that in the 1990s culminated in the EU membership of Finland and Sweden and the EEA membership of Iceland and Norway.
• The principles of free movement of goods and unhindered competition have enabled private profit seeking in alcohol trade (Pillar 1), increased physical availability of alcohol (Pillar 2) and made it more difficult for countries to pursuit an alcohol policy based on high taxation (Pillar 3).
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Nordic alcohol policy (2/2)
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What has happened with the three pillars?
Pillar 1 (restrictions on private profit interest):
• The comprehensive alcohol monopolies were dismantled in the
mid-1990s. Retail sales monopolies do, however, still exist.
• The Nordic alcohol industry has become more international.
Domestic producers have been bought by international economic
operators, like: Carlsberg, Heineken, Brown-Forman, Pernod
Ricard, etc.
• Retail sales of farm wine was allowed in Finland 1995, and there
have been plans on even allowing sales of liqueurs. In Norway and
Sweden there have been demands on allowing farm wine sales
and beer sales directly from microbreweries. If allowed this could
jeopardize the existence of the retail alcohol monopolies.
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What has happened with the three pillars?
Pillar 2 (restrictions on the physical availability):
• The physical availability of alcoholic beverages has been eased,
the number of on- and off-premises increased and opening hours
prolonged. The supply of different types of alcoholic beverages is
greater than before.
• Quotas for travelers' alcohol imports within EU were abolished in
2004. This has increased the possibility to import large quantities
of alcoholic beverages from other EU countries where alcohol is
much cheaper.
• For instance, Swedes buy alcohol from Germany, Denmark and
the Baltic countries, whereas Danes buy alcohol from Germany,
Norwegians from Sweden, and Finns mainly from Estonia.
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Main cross-border trade routes in the Nordic countries
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What has happened with the three pillars?
Pillar 3 (restrictions on the economic availability):
• In the Nordic countries alcoholic beverages are still heavily taxed
from a European perspective.
• Excise duties for alcoholic beverages have, however, been
lowered (especially in Finland in 2004 and Denmark in 2003) and
alcoholic beverages, measured in real terms, are cheaper now
than a decade ago.
• After the large Finnish tax reductions in 2004, Finland has
increased their excise duties on alcohol three times in 2008 and
2009. Also Norway and Sweden have made small alterations, both
increases and decreases, to their alcohol excise duties during the
previous years.
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Alcohol excise duties in some European countries, 1 Jan, 2010
* Non EU-country
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Special features of the Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish alcohol programmes
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Finland Norway Sweden Adopted by: Government
Objective: Reduction of total
consumption and minimisation
of harm
At focus:
children and youth
situational sobriety
risk or heavy use of alcohol
networking, partnership
agreements, local
implementation of action
Funding level: Satisfactory
Adopted by: Parliament
Objective: Reduction of total
consumption and minimisation of
harm
At focus:
children and youth
situational sobriety
services and early
intervention
information and education
co-ordination of activities
international co-operation
Funding level: Good
Adopted by: Parliament
Objective: Reduction of total
consumption and minimisation
of harm
At focus:
children and youth
situational sobriety
services
risk groups
building of a new system,
local prevention efforts
Funding level: Excellent
• Alcohol consumption in the Nordic countries.
• Nordic alcohol policy. Background, development and current status.
• Alcohol policy goes international. Recent developments.
• Does Nordic alcohol policy exist? – Conclusions
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Contents:
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Alcohol policy goes international (1/2)
• While a restrictive alcohol policy has lost some of its justification in
the Nordic countries, alcohol issues have become more prominent
on the international level. The most significant achievements the
Nordic countries have contributed to during the last years on the
international arena are:
1. The Commission’s Communication on an EU Strategy to Support
Member States in Reducing Alcohol-Related Harm (COM (2006)
625) – the EU’s first “alcohol strategy”, and
2. a Global Strategy to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol, which
was passed by the World Health Assembly, on the 20th of May,
2010. The strategy highlights the effectiveness of focusing on
evidence-based policies regarding pricing, availability and
marketing of alcoholic beverages.
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Alcohol policy goes international (2/2)
1. EU’s alcohol strategy: Finland and especially Sweden had a
central role in the preparation and approval of the EU’s alcohol
strategy in 2006. Both countries have also lifted alcohol policy
issues on the political agenda during their presidencies in the EU.
2. WHO’s Global alcohol strategy: It was partly due to the influence
of the Nordic countries (especially Sweden and Norway) that the
WHO passed a resolution on alcohol in 2005 (A58/26). This was
followed by a strategy for the reduction of the harmful use of
alcohol (A61/13) in 2008 and the whole process culminated in the
Global alcohol strategy in May 2010.
The Nordic countries have also been successful in activating
other countries in alcohol issues. A good example of this is the fact
that the initiator of the 2008 resolution was the Republic of
Rwanda, much because of Sweden’s active persuasions.
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Does Nordic alcohol policy exist? – Conclusions (1/3)
• The operational preconditions for an independently
directed “Nordic alcohol policy” have been considerably
weakened since the mid-1990s. In this process, the
European integration has played a central role.
• The liberalizations that have taken place in Nordic
alcohol policy in recent decades have resulted in a
general increase in total alcohol consumption and
related harmful effects.
• The basis on which Nordic alcohol policy was built on
(the three pillars) stays, however, still its ground.
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Does Nordic alcohol policy exist? – Conclusions (2/3)
• While national alcohol policy has lost some of its
justification in the Nordic countries, alcohol issues have
become more prominent on the international level.
• One could describe it as a shift from national politics
towards international policy making and diplomacy.
• As the recent demand of increased sales rights to farm
wines and liqueurs shows, the greatest risks towards
Nordic alcohol policy in the future are not anymore
posed by the EU, but instead by the actions of domestic
operators as well as by increased lobbying by the
international drinks industry.
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Does Nordic alcohol policy exist? – Conclusions (3/3)
• A common Nordic front in alcohol issues towards the EU
could be a realistic strategy in the future instead of individual
countries alone trying to defend their alcohol policies.
• We should also not disregard the three cornerstones of
Nordic alcohol policy, as they still represent the most
effective weapons against alcohol-related harm.
• The three recent alcohol tax raises in Finland as well as the
discussion on selling medium beer only in monopoly stores
serves as a good reminder that it is still possible to pursue
an alcohol policy based on high taxation and restricted
physical availability of alcohol.
20/10/2011 Nordic alcohol policy… / Thomas Karlsson