It was perhaps inevitable – that Scotland’s minimum pricing laws for alcohol would be challenged by other members of the EU. Now it’s happened.
European Commission
Five wine-producing countries – France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Bulgaria – have confirmed to the BBC that they’ve lodged papers with the European commission questioning the legality of the Scottish legislation, passed in 2012. They argue that it breaches European free trade law. They claim the policy is illegal, unfair and ineffective. They also believe it would discriminate against their products.
The Scottish government insisted minimum pricing was “perfectly legal”. Speaking on Good Morning Scotland, Scotland’s health minister, Alex Neil, claimed that the challenge was “based on the false premise that this is about trying to erecting barriers to trade.” But he added “within Europe we are allowed, if the measure is proportional, to deal with a social problem – you’re allowed to introduce measures like minimum unit pricing. Our argument is that this is a very proportional measure to deal with a very substantial problem.”
Alex Neil MSP
Health Secretary
The Scottish legislation has already been subject to legal challenge in the Court of Session. Earlier this year, the Scotch Whisky Association lost what is certainly going to prove the first-round in a long legal battle over the issue. The court ruled that the legislation, which deals with the price of alcohol sold in supermarkets and shops, was indeed legal. However, the Association has started an appeal process which could see the judgement being reviewed by the U.K.’s Supreme Court and possibly even the European Court of Justice. As a result, Scottish ministers have decided not to implement the policy as yet – preferring to wait for the outcome of these appeals. It’s thought that the policy may not be implemented for at least the next year.
But commenting on this today, Alex Neil, argued “we’ve already had round one in the Court of Session with the Scotch Whisky Association and the Court of Session considered the European law aspect of this, as well in Scots law. We won hands down!” But acknowledging the appeals, he added “we are prepared to take this the full way, to go the full mile, because we believe is a social measure this will help deal with this huge Scottish problem and take the lead in Europe in tackling the problem.”
However, the European opponents to this measure argue that there is little evidence that minimum pricing actually has the desired impact. They point out that there are other measures which could be taken which could prove more effective and list restricted to trade. In the evidencing the BBC, the Polish government had argued that the law would “place Scottish-made products in a privileged position”. Others claimed that the policy could have the effect of distorting competition and create obstacles for trade in wine and spirits across the EU.