Rodolphe de Looz-Corswarem, secretary general of the Brewers of Europe, told BeverageDaily.com that calls by British brewers for tax breaks to protect their operations were matched by their counterparts throughout the EU.

"It is nothing new for brewers to want a freeze on higher taxing of their products," he said. "But higher duties and ingredients costs are increasingly hurting brewers across Europe."

The claims come after the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) yesterday asked the UK government to freeze tax increases for beers on the back of the biggest decline in on-trade sales since the great depression.

Soaring costs for barley, malt, glass, aluminium, combined with significant tax increases have created considerable financial burden for brewers, the BBPA said in a letter addressed to parliament.

De Looz-Corswarem claimed that BBPA's claims highlight a wider lack of consistency in the taxation of alcoholic beverages in Europe.

He pointed to wine as an example of a product more favourably treated by politicians because of its status as an agricultural product.

"Wine production at a European level has strong protection as an agricultural product," he said. "Nations like France and Spain, which are major producers of the product, have been able to prevent minimum excise duties being imposed on wine within thirteen EU countries."

While beer production has a strong reliance on agricultural products, brewers are seen very much as enterprises in comparison to wine makers, de Looz-Corswarem said.

He conceded that while there was strong consensus amongst European politicians to protect beer, there is growing pressure within the bloc to hike up excise duties for beer.

Last September, a large majority of EU legislators voted against proposals to raise the minimum excise duty on the beverage to 4.5 per cent, he said.

However, according to de Looz-Corswarem, the proposals are set to face a further vote in the European Parliament next year.

In the UK alone, a decision by the government on freezing taxes would come at crucial time for the industry though, according to the BBPA.

In a letter sent to the government it claims that beer sales have fallen by 22 per cent since their peak in 1979.

The brewers association claims this is equivalent to a fall of 7m pints a day.

Alongside this fall in sales, the BBPA said that duty on beers had increased by 27 per cent during the last ten years alone. The association said it was therefore calling on the government to support British business by agreeing to clamp down on further price hikes.

Not everyone shares the view that increased taxation on beer and other alcoholic beverages is a bad thing though.

While not focused on beer specifically, The Alcohol Health Alliance, which represents 24 leading health organisations, says that taxes should be raised in a bid to curb growing levels of irresponsible drinking in the UK.

The alliance claims that by increasing the price of alcohol by just 10 per cent, alcohol-related deaths would fall by between 10 to 30 per cent, according to its figures.

De Looz-Corswarem rejected the calls though claiming that the UK was an example of a country which, despite high taxes on beer, continues to record high levels of health problems linked to alcohol consumption.

"Tax is not always a suitable tool to control health issues," he added.