__NOTOC__ The European Beer Consumers' Union (EBCU) is a

consumer organisation Consumer organizations are advocacy groups that seek to protect people from corporate abuse like unsafe products, predatory lending, false advertising, astroturfing and pollution. Consumer Organizations may operate via protests, litigation, camp ...

founded in 1990 in

Bruges, Belgium Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in ...

, by three national

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

organisations:

CAMRA The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, which promotes real ale, real cider, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. History The organisation was founde ...

(

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

), Objectieve Bierproevers (

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

) and PINT (

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

History

In 2003, Objectieve Bierproevers was replaced by Zythos. In 2008, the member organisations signed up to a constitution which defined the formal aims and structure and the role of traditional beer as a "prime component of European culture, history and daily life". Beoir, an Irish

setup in 2010 to promote Irish

craft brewing Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...

and

microbreweries Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...

, became the organisation's 13th member in 2012. In 2012, Terry Lock, chairman since 1999, retired and Henri Reuchlin from the Netherlands was elected to replace him. Bo Jensen from Denmark replaced Henri Reuchlin as chairman in 2018, serving until 2022. In 2022, André Brunnsberg of Finnish organisation Olutliitto was elected Chair.

Members

As of March 2023, the union's website listed 21 members from 17 European countries:

Aims

The union campaigns on European level to: *To preserve and maintain the diversity of the traditional European beer cultures, with particular regard to local, regional and national brewing and beer styles *To protect the consumer from the imposition of unfair pricing by opposing unreasonable taxation or exploitative business practices *To ensure that the consumer receives the best factual information about any beer on commercial sale.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official Site
Beer organizations Consumer organisations in Belgium Pan-European food industry trade groups Organizations established in 1990 Lists of organizations based in Europe Organizations based in Europe