Current European Union (EU) President Finland will this year urge fellow member states to raise the political profile of alcohol as a threat to public health, bringing in specific measures to curb abuses, reports Just-Drinks.com.

Finland’s views are particularly important this year, because the European Commission is buffing up just such a plan for release in September or October, and the Finns will be pushing for agreement at the EU Council of Ministers in December.

Ismo Tuominen, Counsellor and Head of Alcohol Policy at Finland’s Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, has singled out blood alcohol limits and under-age drinking as the two priority areas for action. He said that he hoped a draft plan could be agreed at the EU Health Council on December 1. As EU President, Finland will be in a position to control the agenda for such councils and related committee meetings until 2007.

Tuominen said Finland was aware that the EU could not draft legislation in certain areas because of limits in its jurisdiction over health, and he was also aware of the differences in the perception of alcohol across the EU.

“Some treat alcohol as economic commodity only and some regard it as a major threat to the well-being of society,” Tuominen told Just-Drinks. “There will not be any attempt to push any country from its position. We respect other national balances but this process will be the first step in a political process to address alcohol at the EU level.”

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