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Booze is a symptom, not the problem

Europeans have a hard time holding their drink, this continent is topping the drinking charts globally. Is it nature, culture, or a policy issue? We discuss alcoholism on Standard Time.

The top 10 countries facing alcoholism globally are almost exclusively EuropeanIn 2019, 8.4 percent of the EU’s population aged 15 and older consumed alcohol every day. According to the World Health Organization, Europe has the highest proportion of drinkers and the highest intake of alcohol in the world.

Factors that lead certain people, or even certain populations to have alcohol issues vary from biological and environmental, to social and psychological. Europeans particularly may be more genetically predisposed to eating fatty foods and consuming alcohol due to a switch in what is called the galanin gene

Social drinking habits across Europe carry significant weight as well. They inform the identities, economies, and cultures of many European societies. One study interestingly argues that it is not per capita consumption that influences alcoholism, but rather the cultural beliefs surrounding it. Societies that hold positive beliefs about liquor, mainly defined as ‘wet’ and Mediterranean, are less likely to face the same substance abuse problems as their ‘dry’ and ‘Nordic’ counterparts.

Owing to globalization, and the homogenization of drinking cultures across Europe, the way Europeans drink is changing over time and is becoming noticeable with the new generation. Underage drinking has dropped significantly, by 22% among youth in Europe, and while these numbers are far from perfect, their implications are promising. Public policiesredefined social norms, and newfound awareness of mental health are causing youth to stray further away from the drinking trend, as 36% of Gen Z choose to go “sober” for psychological, as well as financial reasons. 

Older Europeans, however, are less keen on switching over to tea and therapy. Even though EU prevention strategies are put forth to mitigate alcohol dependency and its social impacts, alcohol sales still sway our economic systems, affecting every aspect of our lives. 

Today’s guests

Péter Sárosi is a human rights activist and drug policy expert. He is the founder and editor of the Drugreporter project, created in 2004 to advocate for a drug policy reform in Central and Eastern Europe region. 

István Csertő is an English-Hungarian General Translator & PhD Student in Social Psychology researching in the field of cognitive neuroscience.  He is also an assistant lecturer at the Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary.

Dr. Máté Kapitány-Fövény is a clinical psychologist with over 10 years of experience in the fields of therapeutic care and addiction research. He has written and published multiple books on addiction in the Hungarian language, including The Psychology of Alcoholism and A Thousand Faces of Addiction. 

We meet with them at the leather workshop of Közben Stúdió in Budapest.

Creative team

Réka Kinga Papp, editor-in-chief
Merve Akyel, art director
Szilvia Pintér, producer
Zsófia Gabriella Papp, executive producer
Margarita Lechner, writer-editor
Salma Shaka, writer-editor
Priyanka Hutschenreiter, project assistant

Management

Hermann Riessner  managing director
Judit Csikós  project manager
Csilla Nagyné Kardos, office administration

Video Crew Budapest

Nóra Ruszkai, sound engineering
Gergely Áron Pápai, photography
László Halász, photography

Postproduction

Nóra Ruszkai, lead video editor
István Nagy, video editor
Milán Golovics, conversation editor

Art

Victor Maria Lima, animation
Cornelia Frischauf, theme music

Captions and subtitles

Julia Sobota  closed captions, Polish and French subtitles; language versions management
Farah Ayyash  Arabic subtitles
Mia Belén Soriano  Spanish subtitles
Marta Ferdebar  Croatian subtitles
Lídia Nádori  German subtitles
Katalin Szlukovényi  Hungarian subtitles
Daniela Univazo  German subtitles
Olena Yermakova  Ukrainian subtitles
Aida Yermekbayeva  Russian subtitles
Mars Zaslavsky  Italian subtitles

Hosted by Közben Stúdió, Budapest.

Sources 

Alcoholism by Country 2024, World Population Review.

Alcohol consumption statistics, Eurostat. 

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В какой степени Брюсселю придется считаться с голосами ультраправых?

Возможно, они слишком плохо выделяются из центра, более четкий левый поворот мог бы им помочь. Но почему-то ветер дует по-другому. Об экономическом суверенитете громче всех говорит либерал Макрон, в то время как защиту интересов владельцев старых автомобилей Volkswagens преследуют ультраправые. - Кайя Путо беседует с Петром Бурасом, директором варшавского офиса Европейского совета по международным отношениям.

Brüksel aşırı sağın oylarını ne ölçüde hesaba katmak zorunda kalacak?

Belki de merkezden çok az ayırt ediliyorlar, daha net bir sola dönüş onlara yardımcı olabilir. Ama bir şekilde rüzgar farklı esiyor. Ekonomik egemenlik en yüksek sesle bir liberal olan Macron tarafından dile getirilirken, eski Volkswagens sahiplerinin çıkarlarının korunması aşırı sağ tarafından takip edilmektedir. - Kaja Puto, Avrupa Dış İlişkiler Konseyi Varşova Ofisi Direktörü Piotr Buras ile görüştü.

¿Hasta qué punto tendrá que contar Bruselas con los votos de la extrema derecha?

Tal vez se distingan demasiado mal del centro, un giro a la izquierda más claro podría ayudarles. Pero de alguna manera el viento sopla de otra manera. Macron, un liberal, es quien habla más alto de soberanía económica, mientras que la extrema derecha persigue la protección de los intereses de los propietarios de Volkswagens viejos. - Kaja Puto habla con Piotr Buras, director de la Oficina de Varsovia del Consejo Europeo de Relaciones Exteriores.

Do akej miery bude musieť Brusel počítať s hlasmi krajnej pravice?

Možno sú príliš slabo odlíšené od stredu, pomôcť by im mohla jasnejšia ľavá zákruta. Ale vietor akosi fúka inak. O hospodárskej suverenite najhlasnejšie hovorí liberál Macron, zatiaľ čo o ochranu záujmov majiteľov starých volkswagenov sa usiluje krajná pravica. - Kaja Puto sa rozpráva s Piotrom Burasom, riaditeľom varšavskej kancelárie Európskej rady pre zahraničné vzťahy.

Наскільки Брюсселю доведеться рахуватися з голосами ультраправих?

Можливо, вони надто погано відрізняються від центру, чіткіший лівий поворот міг би їм допомогти. Але чомусь вітер дме по-іншому. Про економічний суверенітет найголосніше говорить ліберал Макрон, тоді як захист інтересів власників старих "Фольксвагенів" переслідують ультраправі. - Кая Путо розмовляє з Пьотром Бурасом, директором варшавського офісу Європейської ради з міжнародних відносин.

Wzmacnianie Europy

UE lubi promować swoje przywiązanie do praw człowieka, ale program ten nie sprawdza się w przypadku reżimów granicznych, migracji i uchodźców spoza Europy. Nowy odcinek Standard Time poświęcony jest wyborom do Parlamentu Europejskiego, bezpieczeństwu i polityce zagranicznej.
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