Czechs leading European beer diplomacy? EU Coalition aims to cultivate beer culture
Beer is the national drink of Czechia and holds the same status in Belgium. This shared cultural importance is why both countries have been at the forefront of efforts to unite European beer nations and resist efforts to classify beer as a hard alcohol, which would subject it to stricter regulations. Czechia has now also taken the lead as the head of the European Parliament's Beer Club.
Since 1995, the Beer Club has brought together MEPs from across political groups to support and develop European beer culture. Following the establishment of the new European Parliament, Austrian socialist Hannes Heine became its co-chair alongside Tomáš Zdechovský from the European People's Party group. He explains the motives behind the group:
“It combines MEPs who want to support European beer culture. European beer culture is a part of UNESCO and our history. We want to celebrate and cultivate this historical inheritance for our children and grandchildren.”
Initially, he said, his intention was to focus the idea solely on his home country of Czechia. However, other colleagues in the club also expressed enthusiasm for the concept, leading them to want to promote it as a pan-European initiative.
The new management has already come up with its first initiative—to declare October as Beer Month in 2025.
Krishan Maudgal, director of the Belgian Brewers Association, commented on where cooperation between countries that celebrate beer comes from:
“It’s something that has only developed in recent years. In the past, we viewed ourselves more as competitors because each beer culture has unique qualities that make them distinct. We also focused more on these differences. However, at the moment, we have much more in common, as we share many of the same challenges, such as varying customer demands, restrictions on alcohol, and regulations against alcohol advertising. We all face similar problems.”
At the same time, European brewers are facing a number of problems. Alongside falling consumption, changing consumer preferences or EU regulations, the biggest threat to them is the consideration of putting beer in the same category as hard alcohol.
"These have now gained support from the World Health Organization, which promotes the concept that all alcohol is harmful. In the past, it was possible to argue that moderate beer consumption was not harmful to health. However, the perspective has now shifted under the influence of the WHO, and some European governments are considering following suit. This is unfortunate, because we may lose the beer culture that we have built over centuries."
Enforcing such an approach would hit the European brewing industry hard, he says.
"It could mean a complete ban on beer advertising, it could make beer more expensive and it could affect its availability. Part of the consideration is to concentrate alcohol sales in specialist shops. It might not be possible to just go and buy beer or wine in a normal supermarket."
European brewers are therefore starting to put together a coalition of countries to fight such efforts and to maintain a different perception of beer from other alcohol. The basis of the coalition is to bring Belgians and Czechs together. But Maudgal said the Germans, Irish and Dutch, other traditional beer drinking nations in Europe, have already expressed an interest in joining.
