Monika Kosinska, Secretary General of the European Public Health Alliance on challenges and opportunities in Europe at Alcohol Action Ireland's conference "Time Please... For Change"
1. Challenges and Opportunities in Europe
Monika Kosinska
Secretary General
European Public Health Alliance
Dublin, 1 November 2012
2. Introduction
Brief overview of the EU
Alcohol in the EU
Challenges for health policy
Opportunities for health advocates
Conclusions
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Dublin, 1 November 2012
3. European Public
Health Alliance
Coalition from across the EU
o Public health non-governmental organisations
o Health professionals’ associations
o Patient groups
o Academic organisations
o Population or disease-specific groups
o Others
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4. Understanding the EU
Main goals of the European Union
o Peace and security
o Economic recovery and development
…via economic integration and dismantling
interwar protectionist measures
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5. Understanding Brussels
‘Pristine’ policy environment (detached from
‘real’ citizens)
Economic vs socia/environment/health
Lobbying
Legal & technocratic vs political & democratic
Dominance of Think Tanks, lawyers, compared
to size of civil service
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6. Understanding EU
alcohol policy
Alcohol is key EU commodity
o Agricultural subsidies
o Promotional funds for wine
o Internal market excise law
o International trade agreements and export good
o Marketing across borders
o Alcohol harm strategies…
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7. Complex policy
context
20 years of economic thinking in question
Europe in decline vs other regions
Technology developing quicker than policy
Budgets and public spending crisis
Financial -> Economic -> Political crisis
Political confidence in private sector low
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8. Challenges
Legal:
o Litigious sector + confidence from tobacco wins
o MUP is public health tipping point…
o
Economic
o Tension between two sets of rights
o
Political
o ‘Jobs and growth’
o Strong lobbying from ‘key’ sector 8
Dublin, 1 November 2012
9. Opportunities
Evidence has caught up – need to watch the
Think Tanks
North Europe / South Europe gap is closing
Growing confidence from other regions –
pushing back
Appetite for intervention – stretching regulatory
muscle (taxes, MUP…)
Cracks in the economic-dominant hegemony
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10. Conclusions
MUP is the most important public health case in
30 years
EU trend is in favour of health BUT need to be
ready to capitalise on this
2013 / 2014 very important for alcohol – (MUP,
alcohol strategy, audio-visual media directive)
2013 / 2014 will set the stage until 2020
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11. We need to keep
an eye on the goal
Identifying the Framing the Policy Implementing Evaluating
problem policy issues decision decision decision
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