Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-09-04-Speech-2-321"
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"en.20070904.28.2-321"2
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"Mr President, the European Commission puts the total economic cost of alcohol abuse in Europe at 125 000 million euros a year and estimates that it is responsible for a quarter of all crimes of violence. Some more statistics: drinking alcohol during pregnancy is the leading cause of mental and physical defects in children. About 1% of the European population live with the effects of foetal alcohol syndrome. That means nearly five million Europeans, when foetal alcohol syndrome is entirely preventable. Sixty per cent of people who suffer foetal alcohol syndrome end up in prison or in psychiatric institutions. This afternoon we had a meeting, organised together with Eurocare, with a visiting specialist from my own country of the Netherlands, Dr Nico van der Lely. He said that the number of people requiring treatment for alcohol poisoning in his hospital, the Reinier de Graaf Gasthuis in Delft, had doubled over a five-year period and that in children between the ages of 10 and 15 it had actually increased six-fold. Binge drinking in particular, where you literally drank yourself under the table, seemed to be popular. During the first half of this year a good 80 juveniles had already been admitted to the Reinier de Graaf Gasthuis in Delft as a result of excessive drinking.
There are many measures which can and should be taken. Probably the most important factors here will be cost and availability plus, of course, education and information. The question is: who is best placed to handle this? The situation varies widely from one Member State to another, as the Commissioner rightly points out. So very often help will be given locally by local authorities and measures will most effectively be taken by doctors or the Member States. And under the Treaty there is little scope for it to be otherwise. It is important to have an ambitious alcohol strategy for Europe, but not to get in the way of Member States' own plans. Europe must lay down broad policy lines, and they must be clear. Alcohol abuse needs to be tackled energetically, especially amongst the young, and Europe must give the Member States as much support as it can. I am very loath to announce legislation which we cannot then carry through, because that does nothing to increase confidence in our institutions.
Mr President, I talked about foetal alcohol syndrome and alcohol abuse in juveniles. It is indeed a European problem, as the Commissioner rightly says. So I think the Member States must face up to their responsibility here and do so at European level. I think that European level is the right place for agreeing clear targets for reducing foetal alcohol syndrome and alcohol abuse in juveniles. And the resolution says as much. To my mind it could have been spelled out in more concrete terms than it in fact is, but if the Member States are prepared to agree this, then at least we shall have some kind of a clear-cut result, because I do not believe in saying that subsidiarity is important but then doing absolutely nothing.
Lastly, I am keen to know what the results of labelling have been. In France labels now carry a warning against alcohol consumption by pregnant women. If we have those results and it appears that labelling works, I think we should consider similar action at European level. There are also single-market reasons for doing so. We can and should do this. But I think we should only do it if it is effective, in which case I shall be happy to consider it."@en1
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