Liberalisation of Finnish Alcohol Legislation in the Reform of 1994

Abstract

The article looks at the preparation of the new Alcohol Act as well as the parliamentary proceedings. The attention is focused on the internal dynamics of the process and on the way it was subordinate to other political considerations. Even though the preparation of the legislation was begun in 1991 to alleviate growing internal pressure in the country, it became a part of the government's tug-of-war even before parliamentary proceedings. The preparation of the new Act and the parliamentary proceedings also became intermingled with Finland's EU membership negotiations and the pressures arising from the EEA agreement, effective from the beginning of 1994.

The focal point is whether or not the decisions made can be traced back to the interests of commerce and industry. It is argued that the Parliament, and particularly the Social Affairs and Health Committee, assumed an active role in the process, and that the decisions cannot fully be traced back to the interests of commerce and industry. In the Parliament, the new legislation became remarkably more liberal than the government's proposal would have entailed. In this respect, the central issues were the sanctioning of retail sale of viticulturists' products and table beer, partial removal of restrictions to alcohol advertising and equating all alcoholic beverages, with an alcoholic strength by volume of less than 4.7 per cent, with beer in retail.

With the decision made in the Parliament, the Alcohol Act begins to take on ideological qualities. In particular, the interests of commerce and industry alone simply cannot explain the sanctioning of retail sale of viticulturists' products or table beer. The decision on alcohol advertising also involves ideological considerations. In the light of all the above, the alcohol legislation has taken a huge step towards liberalisation. The interests of commerce and industry also strengthened their position in the field.