Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 16:

In page 15, lines 15 and 16, to delete “, where at least one third of the printed material will be given over to evidence-based health warnings”.

Amendment No. 16 undoes the addition of the requirement for evidence-based health warnings to take up at least one third of the size of the printed material on alcohol products. This requirement was provided for in an amendment to the Bill that was accepted on Report Stage in Seanad Éireann. I note other Deputies have also proposed removal of this provision. I am proposing to remove it as a result of its assessment by the European Commission.

The provision was assessed under Directive EU 2015/1535, laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical regulations and of rules on information society services. That assessment examined the provision in the context of Article 34 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Article 34 prohibits a legislative measure which has an equivalent effect to a quantitative restriction on imports. Member states are allowed by Article 36 of the treaty to enact such a measure for the protection of health only if it can be shown that the measure is proportionate. To be proportionate, a measure must not go beyond what is necessary in order to attain its objective.

In its comments on the requirement that at least one third of the size of the printed material on the alcohol product be given over to evidence-based health warnings, the European Commission said that it was not proportionate. It is the Commission's view that the objective of the protection of health through provision of health warnings on alcohol products could be met by a lesser restriction, such as a requirement that the health warning be of a smaller, yet visible, size. The purpose of providing for health warnings on alcohol products is to make us all aware of the health risks associated with alcohol so that we can make an informed choice. If those warnings are visible, then the objective is achieved. The requirement that a proportion of the printed material be given over to such a warning does on the face of it go beyond what is necessary to achieve the objectives. It might prove very difficult for Ireland to defend the measure in the Court of Justice of the European Union. For this reason I propose to remove this requirement and, as was the original intent of the Bill, provide for the forms of warnings on labels to be determined in regulations to be made under section 12(10)(a).