Source: European Parliament
On 4 February 2025, the Commission published a Staff Working Document[1] reviewing Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. This review was announced in the 2021 Commission Communication[2] and aims to assess whether the actions included in the Cancer Plan are sufficient to achieve its objectives, or whether additional measures are necessary.
The review is not a revision of the Plan and does not announce any new actions but is strictly limited to existing actions for which a state of play of implementation is provided.
Concerning taxation of alcoholic beverages, the review informs on the ongoing evaluation of the EU legislation. This work is strictly limited to the evaluation of the Council Directive 92/84/EEC of 19 October 1992[3] on the approximation of the rates of excise duty on alcohol and alcoholic beverages according to Better Regulation principles and does not make future policy recommendations.
Concerning labelling, the review reiterates that the Plan called for proposals on health warnings and further adds that robust evidence would be necessary for any such measure. The Commission is presently concentrating its efforts on evidence gathering to support any future policy steps in this regard.
The Commission has acknowledged the challenging situation of the wine sector by establishing the High-Level Group on Wine in 2024.
In December, all the members of the Group had endorsed a set of policy recommendations to help the wine sector and highlighted the economic, social and cultural role of the sector.
The Commission is also working swiftly on a legislative proposal to address specific challenges of the wine sector that require an immediate response.