Objectives

The overall objective of the project is to assess and report on the enforcement of national laws and self-regulation on the advertising and marketing of alcoholic beverages in Member States, applicant countries and Norway. There are 23 partners in the project. There are no participants in Greece, Luxemburg, Malta and Turkey.

Support implementation of EU Council recommendation and conclusions
The project supports Member States to implement the Council Recommendation on the drinking of alcohol by young people, and in particular the recommendation that: "alcoholic beverages are not designed or promoted to appeal to children and adolescents"
Furthermore, Member States are supported to implement the Council Conclusions on a Community strategy to reduce alcohol-related harm, particularly in the fields of advertising, marketing and sponsoring. The project enables the production of public health reports, co-operation between Member States and health impact assessments.

Building expertise within the different European countries
The project will raise the level of expertise for monitoring and reporting on marketing practices to at least the same level as that achieved by some of the more experienced Member States, such as Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and the UK. The project will consider the potential impact of proposed directives on sales promotion and on services and will provide recommendations on regulating the marketing of alcohol at community and Member State level.

Contribute to knowledge on alcohol drinking, alcohol marketing and alcohol policy
The project will build on understanding of drinking patterns among young people (HBSC and ESPAD ), the 50 year development of alcohol marketing control measures across Member States (ECAS ), current marketing control measures across the European region (WHO ) and the research evidence linking marketing practices and young people's drinking behaviour. The project builds on the outcomes of the 2001 WHO Stockholm Declaration on Young People and Alcohol, and supports WHO's Framework for Alcohol Policy in the European Region. The project will complement the country reports being prepared by Eurocare's Bridging the Gap project funded by the EC and will support the Commission preparations on a strategy to reduce alcohol-related harm.