Public consultation of European Commission on excise duty of alcohol and alcoholic beverages

On Monday, 11/4/2022 the European Commission announced the EU Public Consultation, on the evaluation & possible revision of Directive 92/84/EEC on minimum rates of excise duty on alcohol.

Consultation period: 11 April 2022 - 04 July 2022

The purpose and scope of a comprehensive evaluation is required to assess the validity and effectiveness of the minimum rates of excise duty on alcohol and alcoholic beverages, which have not been updated since 1992, and the basis of taxation (volume or alcoholic content of the beverages), to ascertain whether they still respond to policy needs and objectives, despite the evolution of market and consumption patterns. This involves reviewing the coherence of the intervention logic that underpins the legislative framework in the light of the objective of the functioning of the Single Market, but also regarding the fight against tax fraud, public health protection and broader societal goals, as well as the added value of EU action. The evaluation will identify the outstanding issues and, where possible good practices to best address identified issues.
The Directive requires the European Commission to regularly evaluate and report to the Council on the implementation. The evaluation will serve as a basis for a discussion with Member States on the state of play and possible future evolution of the EU legislative framework.

The evaluation will cover all harmonised categories of alcohol products currently in the scope of Council Directive 92/84/EEC. The geographical scope will encompass the entire EU27 and identify the areas and those Member States that are most affected by the current arrangements. The analysis will focus on the period from 2010 until the present date.

The consultation will target citizens; Member States, including both excise and public health authorities; economic operators; public health experts; NGOs and sectoral professional organisations.

The planned consultation activities are:

• a public consultation, accessible on the Commission's central public consultations page, Have your Say portal in all EU languages, for 12 weeks;
• a targeted consultation of Member State authorities;
• in-depth interviews with a variety of stakeholders.

The aim of the consultation is to gather the views of all relevant stakeholders on the minimum excise duty rates for alcohol and alcoholic beverages. These stakeholders have a concrete experience with the day-to-day functioning of the Directive, from various perspectives. Views are sought on:  

• the affordability, demand and market developments for the range of alcohol products in Member States; 
• the policy framework and needs, covering both national and EU rules 

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