2026-09-11
The European Committee of Wine Companies, known as CEEV, has invited policymakers and stakeholders to a discussion at the European Parliament in Brussels on Sept. 29 on the role of wine in health policy debates, according to an invitation circulated Friday.
The event, titled “Health debates: Can wine be part of a healthy lifestyle?”, is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. in room ASP5E2 at the Parliament. CEEV said the discussion will be co-hosted by Italian lawmaker Dario Nardella of the center-left Socialists and Democrats group and a member of the center-right European People’s Party whose name has not yet been confirmed. A wine reception is planned afterward, from 6:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
The invitation shows the event is being organized as Europe’s health institutions and international bodies continue to debate alcohol, cancer prevention, cardiovascular disease and other non-communicable diseases. CEEV said the discussion is meant to examine whether policymaking on wine and health is being guided by scientific evidence and to encourage what it called a more balanced and nuanced debate.
The program lists opening remarks from an EPP member still to be named and from Marzia Varvaglione, president of CEEV. The main panel is set to include Dr. Gianni Pes, a senior researcher in the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine at the University of Sassari, and Dr. Attilio Giacosa, a professor of gastroenterology and digestive endoscopy and president of the Istituto per la Ricerca su Vino, Alimentazione e Salute, or IRVAS. The session will also include audience questions and closing remarks from Nardella.
In the background note attached to the invitation, CEEV pointed to ongoing health policy initiatives at the European and international levels, including work related to cardiovascular disease, cancer prevention, the Safe Heart Plan and the World Health Organization. The group said those debates make it important that discussions about wine remain “firmly grounded in science.”
The invitation also places strong emphasis on research into so-called Blue Zones, areas associated with long life expectancy and healthy aging. It specifically mentions Sardinia in Italy, Ikaria in Greece and Nicoya in Costa Rica. According to the event description, the organizers want to explore how diet, lifestyle, environmental conditions and social habits interact in those places, and whether moderate wine consumption as part of a broader pattern of eating and social life should be considered within that picture.
That framing comes from an industry body that represents wine producers and marketers, and the event appears designed in part to influence the policy conversation in Brussels. CEEV describes itself as the representative organization for European Union wine, aromatized wine and vinegar companies. It says it brings together 24 national associations and 2 sectoral associations from 13 EU member states, along with members from Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Ukraine, plus a consortium of 4 major European wine companies. The group says its members account for more than 90% of European wine exports.
The materials for the event also refer to the recent United Nations political declaration on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. CEEV said that document supports evidence-based and balanced approaches to prevention and public health policy, a point that fits the broader message of the Sept. 29 forum.
The invitation does not indicate that public health groups critical of alcohol industry influence are scheduled to speak. The listed panelists are researchers and clinicians, but the event is being organized by a trade group whose members have a direct commercial stake in how wine is treated in European regulation and public messaging.
Attendance will require prior registration, and CEEV said responses are due by Sept. 20. The organization listed its Brussels office on Avenue des Arts and said questions can be sent to its general email address, ceev@ceev.eu.