| European Spirits Organisation | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | CEPS |
| Formation | 1993 |
| Type | Trade association |
| Legal status | Private company |
| Purpose/focus | Spirits companies in Europe |
| Location | Rue Belliard 12, 1040 Brussels, Belgium |
| Region served | Europe |
| Membership | Spirits producers |
| Director General | Paul Skehan |
| Main organ | General Assembly, CEPS Board (Presiudent - Gavin Hewitt) |
| Website | CEPS |
The European Spirits Organisation – CEPS represents producers of spirit drinks[1] at the EU level.
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Its members gather 30 national associations[2] that represent the industry in 26 countries, as well as several leading spirits producing companies:
The Brussels-based European Spirits Organisation - CEPS was created in 1993. Today, the EU spirits industry represents over €32 billion in EU sales, 50,000 direct jobs and is the EU’s largest agri-food export with €6.5 billion of exports.
CEPS aims to be the voice of the EU spirits industry with key decision makers and stakeholders. CEPS's role is the promotion[11] of the freedom to produce and to market spirits responsibly.
CEPS's goals include:
CEPS adopted the Charter on Responsible Alcohol Consumption[21] in 2005. The commitments set out include responsible drinking messages and codes of conduct on marketing of spirits drinks.
As the current Charter expires after five years, commitments for 2011-15 will be launched soon.
Drinksinitiatives.eu, a database[22] of programmes to help reduce alcohol-related harm and aiming to allow best practices exchange between Member States was set up in 2010.
The database is divided into five sections:
CEPS, together with forty other stakeholders, was a founding member of the European Commission's Alcohol and Health Forum[23]. The initiative was proposed by the European Commission as part of the EU strategy to support member states in reducing alcohol-related harm[24].