Brussels proposes ban on booze

17th February 2012

There were reports this week that Polish shops may soon be forced to restrict the hours that they sell alcohol.

According to Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, the World Health Organization has suggested that shops should only be allowed to sell booze for eight hours a day in an attempt to help curb alcohol-related health problems.

In addition to this, it has also proposed a ban on all forms of alcohol advertising.

While Poland has yet to comment on whether it intends to implement the outlined ideas or not, it has accepted the document “without reservation” and Agnieszka Golabek, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health, states there are indeed obvious benefits.

“Having consulted the document, we have decided that any strategies or measures the help reduce problems associated with alcohol consumption should be recommended to European countries,” she says.

However, while the paper writes that the adoption of the document does not oblige European Union nations to implement the proposals, it does claim that there is a “real concern” that the outlined ideas may soon become mandatory for all countries if Brussels has its way at some point in the near future.