Alcoholic beverages

Government proposal to Parliament for an Act amending the Alcohol Act

By legislation, the retail sale of alcoholic beverages is partly only allowed for the government-owned alcoholcompany and partly allowed for operators with a retail licence. The requirements for granting such a licenceare non-discriminatory and would not be amended by the Proposal. The Proposal would allow the supply ofalcoholic beverages to the recipient at a location chosen by the recipient by means of a special licence for thesupply of alcoholic beverages, i.e. the proposal would enable the transport and delivery of alcoholic beveragesto a purchaser. Under the present law, alcohol could only be supplied to the purchaser at a licensed retailoutlet or on licensed premises.

The granting of a licence for the retail sales of alcoholic beverages is not subject to any requirements relatingto the nationality of the applicant or to the country of origin of the products. The requirements relate to matterssuch as the applicant’s age of majority and reliability (for example, the applicant may not have been declaredbankrupt or convicted for an offence related to business practice in the past five years) and the approval of theplace of sale (sections 13, 17 and 35 of the Alcohol Act) Furthermore, the proposed issue of a new licence forthe supply of alcoholic beverages is not subject to any requirement relating to the nationality of the applicant orto the country of origin of the products. A licence for the supply of alcoholic beverages could be obtained (byway of derogation from the requirements related to retail licences or licensed premises) even if the applicantdoes not have a place of business in Finland.
Restrictions on the retail sale of alcoholic beverages, including a new licence, are based on the notion thatalcohol causes significant social, health and financial harm, which regulation seeks to reduce.
The legal requirements of the retail licensing system were discussed in Case C-198/14 Visnapuu (paragraph119) and in a judgment of the Supreme Court of Finland (KKO 2018:46). The restrictions were seen to complywith the requirements of EU law and fall within the discretion of the Member State.