The spirits sector is calling on the European Commission to reconsider the evidence used in policy-making. Efforts by some to exclude business from funding, discussing or even challenging science and research are short sighted and just plain wrong.
In our view, “good” research is “good” no matter who funds it, provided it is carried out by real experts, and generates reputable, credible and reproducible findings that derive from sound methods, and using fair assumptions and verifiable, correct data inputs. The principles and structures that apply to industry-funded research should equally apply to research carried out by advocate-academics who hold strong anti-alcohol views.
In many fields - including alcohol harm - discussions have become more polemic and more polarised between business on the one hand and temperance and health activists on the other. Positions become harder as research is challenged and contested. It is a situation that satisfies no one and we need to create the conditions for an open debate about the evidence used in EU public policy making and the way research is funded, conducted and presented. We need to discuss how to ensure that research and evidence used by policy-makers is relevant, neutral, objective, fair, transparent and robust.
There is constant and justifiable focus on the need for good judgment in policy making. That focus will not diminish with the changeover to a new Commission and new Parliament. It is time for an honest debate on an important topic.”
