spiritsEUROPE is part of an alliance of consumer-facing organisations that call for a coordinated approach to product information provided by digital means. The common understanding of the coalition is that Europe and its citizens need a hands-on consumer information framework which works for all, consumers, old and young, and economic operators, big and small.
The joint call for a digital transition for consumer information was published on 27 September and can be accessed in full here.
To inform EU consumers in a harmonized, consistent, and forward-looking way, digital consumer information should be included in relevant EU policy proposals. We are hopeful that the new EU Commission will deliver on this milestone for European consumers, as in the Mission Letters, Commission President von der Leyen clearly stated that she expects designated Commissioners to “leverage the power of digital tools to deliver better and faster solutions”.
European citizens are demanding more and more information about the products they consume. European producers and brands are ready to accommodate these expectations by reporting more comprehensively about their products, for instance, on product-related sustainability performance. At the same time, national labelling provisions continue to be a real obstacle to the internal market – digital labelling has the potential to ease this burden significantly.
What is needed is a harmonized approach for digital labelling that works for all, to avoid the proliferation of different digital solutions in multiple legislations. Harmonized rules will not only foster cohesion and innovation but also align with the aspirations of a forward-looking, progressive and sustainable European Union.
Thanks to our self-regulatory commitment to digital consumer information (ie. providing ingredient listing and product-related information in a marketing-free, multilingual digital environment through the app-free scanning of a QR code), we have set an important precedent that shows digital labelling is working in practice: a growing number of spirits drinks feature consumer information and also sustainability-related information – and the number of scans is growing in parallel with rising expectations from consumers and business alike.
