Dutch Institute for Alcohol Policy STAP September 21, 2025
According to the Belgium journal ‘De Standaard’, the draft Royal Decree (RD) from the Belgian Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health (Frank Vandenbroucke) tightening the rules on alcohol advertising has not received support from the Mouvement Réformateur (MR), a Walloon political party. The draft RD was originally scheduled for a decision on July 18, but was postponed until the summer.
According to the draft RD, alcohol advertisements in Belgium must carry the warning “Alcohol is harmful to health.” The warning “Alcohol abuse is harmful to health” will be removed. This was already included in the coalition agreement. The draft RD now also states that this health warning must cover 15% of the advertising message, even if only the logo or name of the alcohol brand is shown.
The draft Royal Decree includes further restrictions on alcohol advertising: it is prohibited before and after radio or television broadcasts where at least 30% of the audience consists of minors. The same applies to film screenings, newspapers, magazines, and digital media. Requirements are also imposed on the content of advertising messages. Finally, Vandenbroucke also wants to prohibit the distribution of free alcohol with the purchase of any other product, except the purchase of alcohol itself.
The political debate focuses primarily on the size of the health warning and the fact that it must be included even when only an alcohol brand is displayed, for example, on beer mats and parasols. Deputy Prime Minister David Clarinval of the MR party considers this proposal “a danger to the entire advertising sector.”
Meanwhile, the Advertising Council, the Belgian equivalent of the Advertising Code Commission, is also campaigning against the proposal. According to this organization, a Royal Decree is unnecessary because self-regulation works perfectly. “This threatens to replace an efficient and widely supported system with regulation, additional administration, and uncertainty.”
The wine and spirits sector, Vinum et Spiritus, is concerned, particularly about the proposed new health warning. According to this industry organization, it is “a semantic change with fundamental impact.”
Sources: www.standaard.be
and: www.raadvoorreclame.be, www.horecamagazine.be, www.stap.nl.