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The Brewers of Europe

The Brewers of Europe is a trade association representing breweries across 28 European countries.

Lobbying Activity

European brewers urge EU to maintain advertising self-regulation rules

18 Dec 2025
Topic — Evaluation of European Union rules regarding audiovisual media and advertising standards.
Message — The group advocates for keeping current rules that allow companies to regulate their own advertising. They argue this system provides the flexibility to address specific market realities effectively.12
Why — Maintaining self-regulation avoids the imposition of expensive new administrative and legal requirements.3
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Meeting with Isabella Tovaglieri (Member of the European Parliament)

10 Dec 2025 · Situazione dei produttori di birra in Europa

Meeting with Lukas Mandl (Member of the European Parliament)

10 Dec 2025 · Brewing Industry in Europe

Meeting with Eric Sargiacomo (Member of the European Parliament)

3 Dec 2025 · Bière

Brewers of Europe demand priority access to recycled packaging material

6 Nov 2025
Topic — The European Commission is consulting on the new Circular Economy Act framework.
Message — They request a priority right to purchase collected beverage packaging materials for reuse. They also want beverage deposits exempted from value added tax across Europe.12
Why — Securing these materials reduces dependency on imports and lowers costs for new bottles.3
Impact — Textile and automotive sectors lose access to high-quality plastic and aluminium recyclables.4
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Meeting with Michele Picaro (Member of the European Parliament)

4 Nov 2025 · Health

Meeting with Alexandra Nikolakopoulou (Head of Unit Health and Food Safety)

8 Oct 2025 · Meeting on labelling of the ingredient list and the energy content on beer

Brewers urge focus on harmful alcohol use in EU heart health plan

12 Sept 2025
Topic — EU cardiovascular health plan addressing prevention, early detection and treatment of heart disease.
Message — The organization requests that EU cardiovascular policies distinguish between harmful and responsible alcohol consumption, promote lower-alcohol beverages, and recognize brewers as partners in addressing harmful use rather than targeting all alcohol consumption.123
Why — This would avoid stricter regulations on all alcohol products and preserve their market position.45
Impact — Public health advocates lose stronger population-level measures to reduce overall alcohol consumption and cardiovascular disease.6
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Meeting with Michalis Hadjipantela (Member of the European Parliament)

9 Sept 2025 · Follow-up Meeting

Meeting with Hannes Heide (Member of the European Parliament)

9 Sept 2025 · General exchange of views

Meeting with Jana Nagyová (Member of the European Parliament)

9 Sept 2025 · Competitiveness, climate and public health

Meeting with Hannes Heide (Member of the European Parliament)

2 Jul 2025 · Keynote and Reception

Meeting with Denis Redonnet (Deputy Director-General Trade) and

4 Jun 2025 · In his mission letter Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič is tasked to “closely monitor the full enforcement of our trade agreements on market access and rules […]”.

Meeting with Antonella Rossetti (Cabinet of Commissioner Christophe Hansen), Johannes Van Den Bossche (Cabinet of Commissioner Christophe Hansen)

5 May 2025 · Situation with the US approach on tariffs and measures

Meeting with Tomáš Zdechovský (Member of the European Parliament)

25 Mar 2025 · Meeting with the Brewers of Europe representative on European Beer Group activities

Brewers of Europe demand Commission stop national labeling barriers

31 Jan 2025
Topic — The Single Market Strategy aims to remove regulatory barriers for cross-border trade.
Message — The organization calls for the European Commission to systematically utilize the TRIS process to rigorously check national proposals. They demand that Member States fully implement existing rules and remove unjustified, country-specific requirements.12
Why — This would lower costs by preventing fragmented national regulations and disruptive labeling schemes.3
Impact — National governments lose the ability to implement unique health labeling mandates without EU challenge.45
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Meeting with Hannes Heide (Member of the European Parliament) and Amazon Europe Core SARL

29 Jan 2025 · General exchange of views

Meeting with Michalis Hadjipantela (Member of the European Parliament)

15 Jan 2025 · Introductory Meeting

Meeting with Hannes Heide (Member of the European Parliament)

3 Dec 2024 · Relaunch of the European Beer Group

Meeting with Hannes Heide (Member of the European Parliament)

19 Nov 2024 · General exchange of views

Meeting with Hannes Heide (Member of the European Parliament)

16 Oct 2024 · Panel discussion

Meeting with Márton Gyöngyösi (Member of the European Parliament)

19 Mar 2024 · The future of beer in Europe

Meeting with Tomáš Zdechovský (Member of the European Parliament)

29 Nov 2023 · Reception with the Beer Servers Europe

Meeting with Ivan Štefanec (Member of the European Parliament)

13 Nov 2023 · PPWR

Meeting with Martine Kemp (Member of the European Parliament)

10 Nov 2023 · Echange - Confédération des Brasseries et Brasseurs Luxembourgeois

Meeting with Ljudmila Novak (Member of the European Parliament)

11 Oct 2023 · Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation

Meeting with Hannes Heide (Member of the European Parliament)

4 Oct 2023 · Exchange of views

Meeting with Nils Torvalds (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur for opinion) and Panimo- ja virvoitusjuomateollisuusliitto ry

27 Jun 2023 · Packaging and packagingwaste

Brewers demand fair competition in EU packaging waste rules

24 Apr 2023
Topic — The European Commission is reviewing rules to reduce packaging waste and improve recycling.
Message — The group demands all beverage categories face identical reuse targets and deposit requirements. They insist transition periods only begin after secondary legislation is finalized. Reusable kegs must be included when calculating official reuse targets.123
Why — Uniform rules would prevent competitors from gaining a price or handling advantage.4
Impact — Wine and spirits producers would lose their current exemptions from recycling schemes.5
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Meeting with Franc Bogovič (Member of the European Parliament)

30 Mar 2023 · Packaging and packaging waste regulation

Meeting with Frédérique Ries (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and Ball Beverage Packaging Europe Limited

22 Mar 2023 · PPWR

Meeting with Peter Van Kemseke (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen)

18 Nov 2022 · EU Packaging and Waste Packaging Legislation: upcoming revision.

Meeting with Caroline Boeshertz (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis) and Natural Mineral Waters Europe aisbl

17 Nov 2022 · Draft proposal of a Regulation on Packaging and Packaging Waste (PPWR)

European Brewers Support Mandatory Ingredient and Nutrition Labelling for All Alcohol

13 Jul 2021
Topic — EU proposal to require ingredient lists and nutrition information on all alcoholic beverage labels.
Message — The organization supports mandatory ingredient and nutrition labelling for all alcoholic beverages above 1.2% alcohol, with no exemptions. They request harmonized EU rules applying equally across all beverage types, flexibility to limit nutrition labels to energy values only, and adequate transition periods for implementation.1234
Why — This protects their voluntary labelling efforts since 2015 and ensures competitors face the same requirements.567
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Meeting with Stella Kyriakides (Commissioner)

11 Jun 2021 · Exchange of views on labelling initiatives announced in the Cancer Plan and in the Farm to Fork strategy.

Response to Agriculture - List of products and substances authorised in organic production

23 Apr 2021

The Brewers of Europe welcomes the opportunity to share its comments on this proposal. Our comments relate to Annex V. Current Annex VIII of Regulation 889/2008 lists the substances authorised for the production of organic products. Part A is about additives and part B about processing aids, with each time a distinction between vegetable products and animal products, where the sign X indicates the possibility to use that substance, subject to conditions/restrictions mentioned in the last column. It has been European brewers’ understanding that E220 is authorised in all products of vegetal origin, including beer. The particular limitation to 100 mg as mentioned in “specific conditions” thus only applies to fruit wines, for which in Regulation 1333/2008, 200 mg are authorized. The same approach has been applied to additive E224. Our conclusion is based on the fact in the column “animal origin”, it is stated “only hydromel”, whereas in the column “vegetable origin”, no exception or limitation is mentioned. The draft proposal, though, would restrict the use of these additives to fruit wines and mead. Brewers would welcome that current practice be authorised to continue. The levels of sulphites allowed in beer are much lower than those allowed in fruit wines and mead. The main function of sulphites in most foods is as preservatives. However, in beer they primarily act as antioxidants to protect against stale flavours. The Brewers of Europe invites the European Commission to authorise calcium sulphate, calcium chloride and lactic acid, currently authorised as additive, as processing aid (pH regulator) in plant based products. We also would like to suggest referring to the updated Water Drinking Directive which bears the reference 2020/2184, rather than referring to the previous Directive (98/83/EEC). The Brewers of Europe remains at your disposal for further clarification.
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Response to Cross-border acquisitions of excise goods by private individuals

5 Jan 2021

The single market encourages competition between Member States. The high price of beer in several high tax countries has led consumers to seek out more affordable alternatives abroad. In doing so, these consumers are exercising their legitimate right to purchase beer where taxes (and prices) are lower. High excise taxes are thus self-defeating and may result, as identified in the PwC PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, in increased legitimate cross border purchases at the expense of lost domestic production, sales, jobs and government revenues in the high tax countries. The Brewers of Europe encourages high tax countries to reflect on these consequences when setting excise rates. The application of fair excise duties would significantly reduce the incentive for cross-border sales and concomitant consequences thereof. The Brewers of Europe therefore is of the opinion that none of the envisaged policy options would address one of the main motivations for shopping for private use in other countries. The proposed measures would thus be disproportionate and unjustly hit consumers who seek out new products and consumption experiences. With the continuing diversification of the beer market and growth in beer styles and brands across all EU countries, restrictions on private imports will restrict the opportunity for EU citizens to benefit from the internal market and this expansion of choice that may not be available within the confines of each individual Member State.
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Meeting with Thierry Breton (Commissioner) and

16 Apr 2020 · COVID crisis: exit and recovery of the agro-food ecosystem

Brewers of Europe seek industry engagement in cancer plan

21 Feb 2020
Topic — The European Commission initiative aims to reduce cancer deaths through lifestyle changes.
Message — The Brewers of Europe welcome targeted consultations on lifestyle choices and alcohol consumption. They advocate for engagement through existing channels like the Alcohol and Health Forum.12
Why — Industry participation allows them to influence potential tax measures and regulatory instruments.34
Impact — Public health goals might be compromised if industry lobbying weakens alcohol-related restrictions.56
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Meeting with Vytenis Andriukaitis (Commissioner)

19 Nov 2019 · Courtesy meeting to thank commissioner for his mandate

Meeting with Vytenis Andriukaitis (Commissioner) and

4 Sept 2019 · MoU of brewers of Europe on labelling of calories and ingredients

Meeting with Arunas Vinciunas (Cabinet of Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis), Nathalie Chaze (Cabinet of Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis)

15 May 2019 · Labelling of alcoholic beverages

Meeting with Anne Bucher (Director-General Health and Food Safety)

11 Apr 2019 · The Brewers of Europe commitment on ingredient and calorie information

Meeting with Vytenis Andriukaitis (Commissioner) and

5 Dec 2018 · Alcohol labelling

Response to Structures of excise duties on alcohol and alcoholic beverages

20 Jul 2018

The European Commission rejects a EU Court ruling in the proposal on structures. If this is rectified, The Brewers of Europe could support the envisaged amendments. This is clarified in the attached position paper.
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Meeting with Vytenis Andriukaitis (Commissioner) and

12 Mar 2018 · Alcohol labelling

Response to Elements for an EU Strategy on India

5 Mar 2018

The Brewers of Europe expresses support for a stronger and deeper partnership between the European Union and India. Such partnership must be founded on the values of democracy, the respect for human rights and pluralism and the sustainable development goals. It is believed that such new and more profound collaboration will equally open opportunities across South Asia, given India’s substantial influence in the region due its size, comparative economic power and historical and cultural relevance. Investments and trade are known to be instrumental in bringing prosperity to the wider society at large through concomitant generation of employment, investment in infrastructure, improving supply chain management, and commitment to sustainability through supplier and human rights codes and adherence to global standards. Investment and trade must therefore represent an important aspect of any strategic partnership. The 2017 launch of the Investment Facilitation Mechanism for European Union investments in India is welcomed. The absence of a free trade agreement between the European Union and India which must also address the liberalisation of trade for alcoholic beverages such as beer, despite 10 years of negotiations, and the non-compliance of India with internal standards pertaining to beer highlight that there is still room for improvement. Europe’s brewers therefore plead for work being taken forward in parallel: the European Union should continue to pursue a policy of openness in bilateral commerce and investment whilst exploring ways to further leverage the current European Union-India Strategic Partnership.
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Meeting with Vytenis Andriukaitis (Commissioner) and

28 Feb 2018 · Alcohol labelling

Response to Commission Implementing Regulation on the provision of voluntary indication of origin or place of provenance of foods

30 Jan 2018

The Brewers of Europe thanks the Commission for providing the opportunity to comment on the draft Implementing Regulation on the provision of voluntary indication of origin or place of provenance of foods. The Brewers of Europe's contribution can be found in attachment. Founded in 1958 and based in Brussels, The Brewers of Europe is the voice of the European brewing industry to the European institutions and international organizations. Current members are the national brewers’ associations of 29 European countries, representing more than ninety three percent of the beer produced in the EU28.
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Meeting with Marika Lautso-Mousnier (Cabinet of Vice-President Jyrki Katainen)

25 Oct 2017 · Preparatory meeting with a view to VP Katainen's participation in The Brewers of Europe’s General Assembly 30/11 – competitiveness, investment, jobs and growth in the brewery sector

Response to EMAS reference document for best environmental management practice in Food and Beverage Manufacturing

15 Nov 2016

3.5.1 Cross-flow rough beer filtration The Brewers of Europe is of the opinion that the Environmental Performance Indicator “Amount of kieselguhr used in beer filtration per hectolitre of beer produced (kg/hL) is not a sound indicator for evaluating the main environmental benefits of beer filtration systems. This view has been expressed before, but was not responded to. The Brewers of Europe requests that it be either deleted or rephrased as follows: Environmental Performance Indicator: “Amount of kieselguhr disposed as waste to landfill per hectolitre of beer produced (kg dry matter per hl)”. Breweries have several options to reduce the amount of spent KG discharge. Cross-flow filtration, which is capital-intensive, is just one option. Accordingly, the title of the chapter should be rephrased to 'beer filtration'. The Sectoral Reference Document has been based on a report developed by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, one of the seven institutes of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. It failed to provide in section 7.4.1. a comprehensive comparison between cross-flow filtration and KG filtration as it does not give a complete picture of current practices and developments in the area of beer clarification technology. Beer clarification consists of filtration of rough beer to remove yeast cells and retention of haze particles. KG is currently widely used in breweries because of its excellent filtration properties. Various kinds of KG ensure flexibility to remove suspended particles depending on the variable malt characteristics. The challenge to solve some drawbacks of the use of KG (see Best Environmental Management Practice for the Food and Beverage Manufacturing Sector 2015) has been embraced by the brewing industry: optimization of the filtration process leading to lower KG usage; recycling and reuse of KG (agriculture, cement), leading to less waste KG; partial or complete replacement of KG by other filter media, such as perlite, cellulose which do not show the disadvantages of KG; combined filtration and stabilisation of beer, using other media than KG, such as silica or polymers, meaning less equipment and consequently lower investment; application of other filtration techniques like filter sheets (cellulose) or membrane filtration (polymer, ceramic). Cross-flow filtration is one of the options falling in the category of membrane filtration. Cross-flow filtration is unjustly presented as the sole solution for KG filtration. Drawbacks of cross-flow filtration like high investment, high water and energy consumption have to be taken into account. Local conditions like water scarcity might lead to another choice. As shown above, there are more possibilities leading to the same or even better desired environmental protection. The choice of the brewer will be based on quality (to achieve desired clarity and stability of the beer), technology (investment, automation) and running cost. If the discharge of KG is a problem, discharge cost will rise. However, some breweries are able to sell the spent KG, and even generate revenues (circular economy). Breweries should be able to make use of such environmental sound practices. 3.5.2 Reducing energy use in wort boiling The saving of energy in breweries, especially in wort boiling, is one of the key goals after beer quality. The use of modern boiling systems and techniques and the installation of energy recovery systems have enabled energy consumption to be reduced considerably in past decades. However, there is little benefit to be gained from correlating the energy savings directly with the evaporation rate as described in (b21), because there are many other deciding factors. However, evaporation does have an influence on the quality of the beer. As a consequence, it is not appropriate to determine a fixed rate. 3.5.3 Moving from batch to continuous fermentation: This is a non-realistic BEMP: only a handful of brewers use this method.
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Meeting with Xavier Prats Monné (Director-General Health and Food Safety)

30 Mar 2016 · Visit to inform about their activities

Meeting with Juho Romakkaniemi (Cabinet of Vice-President Jyrki Katainen)

4 Jun 2015 · European Fund for Strategic Investment, Industrial Policy

Meeting with Nathalie Chaze (Cabinet of Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis)

2 Jun 2015 · Consumer knowledge, ingredients listing and nutrition information