In a paper titled “EU high alcohol consumption is a public health time bomb,” Lagos cited Eurostat data from 2019.
According to the politician, the indicators at his disposal show that during the period under review, 8.4% of the adult population of the EU consumed alcohol daily, 28.8% - weekly, and 22.8% - monthly.
At the same time, the highest level of citizens drinking every day was in Portugal.
“In the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium, the share of the population consuming alcohol on a weekly basis was 47.3%, 43.1% and 40.8%, respectively.
High rates of monthly alcohol consumption were recorded in Lithuania (31.3%), Latvia (31.1%) and Cyprus (30.4%),” the MEP noted.
However, Lagos added that 4% of the adult population of Cyprus and 38% of the population of Denmark consumed alcohol in large quantities (at least 60 g of pure ethanol at a time) at least once a month.
Against this background, the politician turned to the European Commission with a question about how it plans to reduce alcohol abuse in the EU, "given its negative impact on public health and society as a whole."
In the summer, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer expressed the opinion that without adequate measures on the part of European officials aimed at combating rising inflation, the only way out of the current situation for the EU countries would be the use of alcohol or psychotropic substances.