Latest updates
Latest news, statements and press coverage related to the reconnection of the brewing and the hospitality sectorLetter from Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis on supporting the recovery of Europe’s hospitality sector
Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President of The European Commission states that under EU law, Member States can be flexible with VAT rates and indeed this can extend to beer served in hospitality establishments. Mr Dombrovskis was responding to a letter from a...
Urgent support of the hospitality sector needed, calls cross-party group of MEPs in letter to the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission
A cross-party group of MEPs have written to the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission to highlight the need for urgent support of the hospitality sector. Across Europe, the service and entertainment establishments, along with bars and restaurants, have...
European Commission confirms possibility for Member States to cut VAT on beer in the hospitality sector
The European Commission has written to The Brewers of Europe recognising the severe impact that COVID has had on the hospitality and beer sector across the Union, definitively shutting down many establishments and threatening the very existence of hundreds of...
EURACTIV: Real Facts, and Beer
Abraham Lincoln is often (mis-)quoted as saying “I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer.” The origins of “…and beer” are certainly much...
EURACTIV: Pubs ask for VAT cut on alcohol to face post-COVID reality
Europe’s hospitality sector has been hit hard by the lockdown measures enforced across the continent to contain the spread of COVID-19. In Belgium, pubs and restaurants were forced to shut down on 13 March. The Belgian government provided one-off payments and...
Brewers invite us to #RECONNECT
The Brewers of Europe have launched a campaign, under the concept of #reconnect, to call for ongoing support of the hospitality sector in the wake of the COVID19 crisis and lockdown. The hospitality sector is being invited to reopen, but this must be done in a safe...
EURACTIV: Commission could issue recommendations to revive EU hospitality sector
The European Commission could recommend that EU member states take measures such as tax and red tape reductions to help the struggling hospitality sector recover from the economic losses incurred by the pandemic-induced lockdown, MEP Ivan Štefanec has said. Read the...
EURACTIV: Trouble brewing for UK pubs with post-COVID distancing rules
Grant Convey sums up the existential threat facing the UK pub industry in eight words: “We can’t survive with the two-metre rule”. And many of his colleagues agree. Few institutions are as recognisably British as the local pub. And few sectors have suffered more from...
EURACTIV – Hospitality sector: Re-connecting EU citizens after the pandemic
Bars, cafes and restaurants are going to be vital to the process of “re-connecting” European citizens socially after the coronavirus pandemic. However, Europe’s hospitality sector, which mainly consists of small and medium sized companies, has been badly hit by the...
EURACTIV – Beer boss: Lowering VAT on alcohol would help hospitality sector revive quickly
Lowering VAT rates on alcohol across Europe would tremendously help the hospitality sector’s efforts to turn the business around quickly and eventually recover from the disastrous economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Brewers of Europe. Read this...
Reuters: A million beers await drinkers as Europe’s bars reopen
BRUSSELS/COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - As bars across Europe gradually reopen, up to a million free or pre-paid beers are waiting to lure back wary consumers. Beer makers from global giant Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR) to smaller craft brewers have set up schemes for...
EURONEWS – Coronavirus: Huge hangover as Europe’s bars and breweries face battle for survival
On a sun-doused pavement in the French city of Lyon, workers scrub frantically away at the mountain of chairs and tables before them. After weeks of laying idle, bars across the country are being disinfected ahead of their planned reopening on June 2. Similar scenes...
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