Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Aim: This study examines divergent trends in alcohol control policies across Baltic and Nordic countries, focusing on the efficacy of excise taxes as a public health instrument. It aims to identify why systematic increases in excise duties often fail to achieve the intended reductions in consumption, indicating that decision-makers ignore changing consumer behavior and technological progress in production processes – a phenomenon called legal blindness. Methods: The study employs a comparative policy analysis across eight Baltic Sea Member States. Data selection criteria focused on national excise legislation and the Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS) reporting between 2020 and 2025. Statistical data was accessed via the European Commission’s Taxation and Customs Union databases and cross-referenced with national
reporting from the respective Ministries of Finance. The review protocol involved a systematic search of peer-reviewed literature using the keywords: alcohol excise tax, EMCS data fragmentation, and alcohol policy. The study provides comparative regulatory and fiscal evidence from eight Baltic Sea Member States, drawing on EMCS movement data and national excise legislation for the period 2020–2025. Results: Findings
reveal a significant discrepancy between policy goals and outcomes. Preliminary analysis suggests that minor technical discrepancies in the interpretation of EU excise categories, combined with technological shifts toward low-alcohol content products, may lead to systemic data fragmentation. Furthermore, evidence suggests that aggressive taxation often triggers a shift toward legally underclass products, which are frequently underrepresented in official statistics, thereby distorting the view of policy effectiveness. Conclusions: The study concludes that traditional excise-heavy policies are becoming less effective due to generational shifts in consumption and rapid product innovation. To overcome current so-called legal blindness, policymakers must move beyond strict compliance with EU instruments and adopt evidence-based frameworks that account for technological market evolution. Improved data integration is essential to mitigate the so-called grey market risks and ensure public health objectives are met.
Article Details
Aeberhard, D., Greenall, R. (2024). Finland and Sweden move to relax strict alcohol laws. BBC. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjmmzr8n1dxo [accessed: 12.10.2025].
Bartkus, A. (2019). The impact of excise tax increases on ethyl alcohol sales in Lithuania. Ekonomika, 98(2), 55–75. https://doi.org/10.15388/Ekon.2019.2.4
Carruthers, N. (2024). Sweden to allow takeaway alcohol sales. The Spirits Business. Retrieved from https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2024/06/sweden-to-allow-takeaway-alcohol-sales/ [accessed: 12.10.2025].
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1637 of 5 July 2022 laying down the rules for the application of Council Directive (EU) 2020/262 as regards the use of documents in the context of movement of excise goods under a duty suspension arrangement and of movement of excise goods after release for consumption, and establishing the form to be used for the exemption certificate. OJ L 247 23.9.2022, 57. Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX-%3A02022R1637-20240213 [accessed: 12.10.2025].
Commission Regulation (EC) No 684/2009 of 24 July 2009 implementing Council Directive 2008/118/EC as regards the computerised procedures for the movement of excise goods under suspension of excise duty. OJ L 197, 29.7.2009, 24–64. Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2009/684/oj/eng [accessed: 12.10.2025].
Council Directive 92/84/EEC of 19 October 1992 on the approximation of the rates of excise duty on alcohol and alcoholic beverages. OJ L 316, 31.10.1992, 29–31 Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/1992/84/oj/eng [accessed: 12.10.2025].
Council Directive (EU) 2020/262 of 19 December 2019 laying down the general arrangements for excise duty (recast). OJ L 58, 27.2.2020, 4–42. Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2020/262/oj/eng [accessed: 12.10.2025].
Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff. OJ L 256, 1–675. Retrieved from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/ALL/?uri=CELEX-%3A31987R2658 [accessed: 12.10.2025].
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights [FRA]. (2017). Purchasing and consuming alcohol. Retrieved from https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2017/mapping-minimum-age-requirements-concerning-rights-child-eu/purchasing-and-consuming-alcohol [accessed: 12.10.2025].
Excise Movement and Control System [EMCS]. (2023). Retrieved from https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/taxation/excise-taxes/emcs_en [accessed: 12.10.2025].
Holmstrom, B., Milgrom, P. (1987). Aggregation and Linearity in the Provision of Intertemporal Incentives. Econometrica, 55(2), 303–328. https://doi.org/10.2307/1913238
International Alliance for Responsible Drinking [IARD] (2022). Minimum Legal Age Limits. Retrieved from http://iardwebprod.azurewebsites.net/science-resources/detail/minimum-legal-age-limits [accessed: 12.10.2025].
Kraus, L., Room, R., Livingston, M., Pennay, A., Holmes, J., Törrönen, J. (2019). Long waves of consumption or a unique social generation? Exploring recent declines in youth drinking. Addiction Research & Theory, 28(3), 183–193. https://doi.org/10.1080/16066359.2019.1629426
McCaffery, E.J., Slemrod, J. (2006). Behavioral public finance. Russel Sage Foundation, New York.
Manthey, J., Gobiņa, I., Isajeva, L., Neneman, J., Reile, R., Štelemėkas, M., Rehm, J. (2024). The Impact of Raising Alcohol Taxes on Government Tax Revenue. Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, 22(3), 363–374. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40258-024-00873-5
Piattoeva, N., Saari, A. (2022). Rubbing against data infrastructure(s): methodological explorations on working with(in) the impossibility of exteriority. Journal of Education Policy, 37(2), 165–185. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2020.1753814
Raipalis, A., Sloka, B. (2025). Grape and Fruit Wine Treatment and Taxation in Different Economies of Europe. [In:] M. Ivanova et al. (eds.), XXIII. International Balkan and Near Eastern Congress Series on Economics, Business and Management, Plovdiv / Bulgaria, proceedings, 25–32. Retrieved from https://www.ibaness.org/conferences/plovdiv_2025/ibaness_plovdiv_proceedings_draft_5.pdf [accessed: 12.10.2025].
Rehm, J., Badaras, R., Ferreira-Borges, C., Galkus, L., Gostautaite Midttun, N., Gobiņa, I., Janik-Koncewicz, K., Jasilionis, D., Jiang, H., Kim, K.V., Lange, S., Liutkutė-Gumarov, V., Manthey, J., Miščikienė, L., Neufeld, M., Petkevičienė, J., Radišauskas, R., Reile, R., Room, R., Stoppel, R., Tamutienė, I., Tran, A., Trišauskė, J., Zatoński, M., Zatoński, W.A., Zurlytė, I., Štelemėkas, M. (2023a). Impact of the WHO “best buys” for alcohol policy on consumption and health in the Baltic countries and Poland 2000–2020. The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, 33, 100704. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2023.100704
Rehm, J., Lange, S., Gobiņa, I., Janik-Koncewicz, K., Miščikienė, L., Reile, R., Stoppel, R., Tran, A., Ferreira-Borges, C., Jasilionis, D., Jiang, H., Kim, K.V., Manthey, J., Neufeld, M., Petkevičienė, J., Radišauskas, R., Room, R., Liutkutė-Gumarov, V., Zatoński, W.A., Štelemėkas, M. (2023b). Classifying alcohol control policies enacted between 2000 and 2020 in Poland and the Baltic countries to model potential impact. Addiction, 118(3), 449–458. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.16102
Rehm, J., Rovira, P., Hassan, A.S., Oliveira, C. de, Lange, S., Thompson, M.J., Tamutienė, I., Liutkutė-Gumarov, V., Galkus, L., Štelemėkas, M. (2025). A return on investment analysis for the 2017 increase in alcohol excise taxation in Lithuania. Addiction, 120(10), 2094–2104. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70083
Romensaka, K. (2021). Formation of the budget flows from the results of excise taxation in Ukraine. Economic Analysis, 31(3), 90–96. https://doi.org/10.35774/econa2021.03.090
Rovira, P., Belian, G., Ferreira-Borges, C., Kilian, C., Neufeld, M., Tran, A., Štelemėkas, M., Rehm, J. (2022). Alcohol taxation, alcohol consumption and cancers in Lithuania: A case study. NAD Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 39(1), 25–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/14550725211021318
Saeima (2004). Alkoholisko dzērienu aprites likums. Latvijas Vēstnesis, 69, 01.05.2004. Latvijas Republikas Saeimas un Ministru Kabineta Ziņotājs, 10, 29.04.2004. Retrieved from https://likumi.lv/ta/id/88009-alkoholisko-dzerienu-aprites-likums [accessed: 12.10.2025].
Sauka, A. (2025). Latvijas beztabakas nikotīna produktu nozare:pelēkā tirgus apjoma tendences un lietotāju paradumi, 2025. gada pētījums. Beztabakas produktu asociācija. Retrieved from https://d410af67-90a2-422f-a5a0-76cfe8fc2726.usrfiles.com/ugd/d410af_16c72e4ad51d-4375a05a1cd14446cc11.pdf [accessed: 12.10.2025.]
Trasberg, V. (2020). Alcohol Excise Duties Burden in the Baltic Countries. Estonian Discussions on Economic Policy, 28(1–2), 136–151. https://doi.org/10.15157/tpep.v28i1-2.16806
Williams, N. (2015). A solvable continuous time dynamic principal–agent model. Journal of Economic Theory, 159(B), 989–1015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jet.2015.07.006
Zirgulis, A. (2024). Examining the effects of beer excise taxation on cross-border sales in border regions of the Baltic States. Regional Studies, 58(3), 619–635. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2023.2228358
Downloads
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.