At the beginning of March 2023, the European Commission published a "Study on low/no alcohol beverages", in which the Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics and Mountain Farming also participated in the context of conducting a case study in Austria.
The background to the study commissioned by the European Commission (EC) is the increasing supply of low-alcohol beverages (e.g. low/no-alcohol beer, dealcoholised wine) and the lack of an EU-wide legal framework for these products. The overall objective of the study is to provide the EC with an overview of the current market situation of beverages with a lower alcohol content than the minimum alcohol content prescribed for the alcoholic beverages concerned, thus enabling it to assess a possible need for harmonised EU legislation in this sector. In addition to the development of the market, the study focuses on the way such products are produced or labelled, the expectations, acceptance and understanding of consumers and potential future trends. The results, based also on feedback from various stakeholders, show the need for harmonisation of EU legislation for the product group of low-alcohol beverages. However, given the sectoral specificities, the development of harmonised and cross-sectoral legislation is challenging and requires an enhanced sectoral dialogue.
Further information on the study can be found at https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/bc7b29d4-b7e7-11ed-8912-01aa75ed71a1 (accessed on 14.03.2023).
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