First Minister ignores EC warnings on alcohol pricing

5.39.29pm GMT Thu 29th Oct 2009

Commenting after the First Minister dismissed suggestions that the European Commission’s ruling against minimum pricing for tobacco ruled out the Scottish Government’s proposals for alcohol minimum pricing, Liberal Democrat Justice spokesperson Robert Brown said:

“The First Minister’s defence of minimum pricing was based on highly selective quotes.  In fact the quote taken as a whole says exactly the opposite, namely that minimum pricing is likely to be regarded by the European Commission as illegal.

“To suggest that the EC ruling has no relevance to minimum pricing for alcohol is entirely ridiculous. 

It is vital that the Scottish Government sorts this matter out and establishes clearly if there is a legal basis for going ahead. The simplest way would be to publish their own legal advice so that we can see if it stands up. If they do not sort this out, Ministers risk tying us up in legal wranglings in Europe. This would be a major distraction away from the real issue – tackling alcohol abuse.”