On the eve of World Heart Day, ECL has joined four European public health and medical organisations in objecting to an alcohol industry-organised event on wine and health policy, taking place in the European Parliament on 29 September.

Alcohol is a shared risk factor for cardiovascular disease and several cancers. The only scientifically established safe level of alcohol consumption is zero. The European Code Against Cancer calls on policymakers to act on alcohol through pricing, availability and marketing measures and health warning labels. It also calls on them to safeguard these policies against industry interference.

For ECL, industry interference is a grand concern. Across public health, from tobacco to ultra-processed food, commercial interests continue to seek a role in shaping the policies meant to regulate them. We thank the European Heart Network and Eurocare for leading this joint initiative, and we are proud to stand alongside them with CPME and the European Health Alliance on Alcohol in calling on MEPs and the EU institutions to ensure that health policy is guided by independent evidence and the public interest, with robust conflict-of-interest safeguards and transparency around lobbying.

Read the full joint press release below.