Message 001
Communication from the Commission - TRIS/(2026) 0630
Directive (EU) 2015/1535
Notification: 2026/0104/FI
Notification of a draft text from a Member State
Notification – Notification – Notifzierung – Нотификация – Oznámení – Notifikation – Γνωστοποίηση – Notificación – Teavitamine – Ilmoitus – Obavijest – Bejelentés – Notifica – Pranešimas – Paziņojums – Notifika – Kennisgeving – Zawiadomienie – Notificação – Notificare – Oznámenie – Obvestilo – Anmälan – Fógra a thabhairt
Does not open the delays - N'ouvre pas de délai - Kein Fristbeginn - Не се предвижда период на прекъсване - Nezahajuje prodlení - Fristerne indledes ikke - Καμμία έναρξη προθεσμίας - No abre el plazo - Viivituste perioodi ei avata - Määräaika ei ala tästä - Ne otvara razdoblje kašnjenja - Nem nyitja meg a késéseket - Non fa decorrere la mora - Atidėjimai nepradedami - Atlikšanas laikposms nesākas - Ma jiftaħx il-perijodi ta’ dewmien - Geen termijnbegin - Nie otwiera opóźnień - Não inicia o prazo - Nu deschide perioadele de stagnare - Nezačína oneskorenia - Ne uvaja zamud - Inleder ingen frist - Ní osclaíonn sé na moilleanna
MSG: 20260630.EN
1. MSG 001 IND 2026 0104 FI EN 03-03-2026 FI NOTIF
2. Finland
3A. Työ- ja elinkeinoministeriö
Työllisyys ja toimivat markkinat -osasto
PL 32, FI-00023 VALTIONEUVOSTO
maaraykset.tekniset.tem@gov.fi
+358295047056
3B. Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö
Turvallisuus- ja terveysosasto
PL 33
FI-00023 VALTIONEUVOSTO
saara.karttunen@gov.fi, tuomas.pulkkinen@gov.fi
4. 2026/0104/FI - C50A - Foodstuffs
5. Government Decree amending the Government Decree on the implementation of the Alcohol Act
6. Alcoholic beverages
7.
Directive (EC) N°2006/123 on services in the internal market
Requirements which reserve access to particular providers
The impact that the regulation would have on the extension of the retail sale rights of small producers of alcoholic beverages has been assessed in a Government Proposal concerning the amendment of the Act. A notification has previously been submitted for the proposed legislative amendment. The proposed amendment to the regulation clarifies the provisions of the legislative amendment concerning the content of self-monitoring plans and the reporting of information, and the amendment to the regulation has little independent impact.
While an extension of retail rights would open up for certain domestic producers of alcoholic beverages a new sales channel not accessible to producers based in other EU countries, the proposal would not place foreign actors at a disadvantage compared to domestic actors. Foreign actors may sell their own products manufactured outside Finland to Finnish consumers through distance selling procedures in accordance with the legislative proposal currently being debated in Parliament.
In the proposal concerning distance selling, the law would include clear provisions on cross-border distance sales. An actor based abroad would be permitted to sell alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of up to 80% to Finland via distance selling. Distance sales would be permitted both when the seller uses a separate carrier and when the seller personally delivers the alcoholic beverages to the buyer. Distance selling would allow foreign operators to enter the Finnish market efficiently and give them even greater opportunities to sell alcoholic beverages directly to Finnish consumers than local small producers. Operators established abroad can also sell their products to Finnish consumers through Alko. The regulation does not prevent foreign producers or private individuals from owning Finnish alcoholic beverage producers or from establishing production in Finland and selling from their place of production. The regulation cannot be considered discrimination against alcoholic beverages originating from other Member States or indirect favouring of domestic production.
The impact that the regulation would have on the extension of the retail sale rights of small producers of alcoholic beverages has been assessed in a Government Proposal concerning the amendment of the Act. A notification has previously been submitted for the proposed legislative amendment. The regulation in the proposed Decree fine-tunes the regulation of the amendment to the Act, and the amendment to the Decree has few independent effects.
The aim of the Government Proposal is to implement the Government Programme of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo. In accordance with the Government Programme, the Government will reform alcohol policy responsibly in a European direction and continue the overall reform of the Alcohol Act carried out in 2018. The Government’s objective is to promote fair and open competition and to create conditions for the growth of domestic markets.
The proposal would implement a provision of the Government Programme, according to which all domestic small and craft breweries, small distilleries, and wineries would be enabled to sell their products directly to consumers from their places of production with a retail sales licence. In line with the Government Programme, the proposal suggests expanding the direct-sale rights of small alcohol producers. The proposal would improve the operating conditions for domestic alcoholic beverage producers by broadening sales channels and enabling entirely new operators, such as small distilleries, to sell their products from the place of production under a retail sales license. The proposal particularly promotes rural and regional tourism and strengthens the vitality of rural areas. It enhances the ability of small alcohol producers to offer more diverse tourism, visiting, and service concepts at their production sites. The proposal would improve consumers’ purchasing opportunities and freedom of choice, allowing them to purchase alcoholic beverages produced on-site at the end of a visit to the production facility. The proposal supports the local economy in the vicinity of small alcohol producers.
The impact that the regulation would have on the extension of the retail sale rights of small producers of alcoholic beverages has been assessed in a Government Proposal concerning the amendment of the Act. A notification has previously been submitted for the proposed legislative amendment. The regulation in the proposed Decree fine-tunes the regulation of the amendment to the Act, and the amendment to the Decree has few independent effects.
The Alcohol Act would be amended to expand the retail sales rights of small producers of alcoholic beverages. The current exceptions for farm wine and craft beer would be repealed, and the law would henceforth define a single exception for small producers to sell directly from production sites fermented alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of more than 8.0% and alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of more than 5.5% produced by other means. The proposal would promote the equal treatment of alcoholic beverage producers regarding on-site sales, as previously only craft breweries have been allowed to sell craft beers of up to 12% alcohol by volume on-site, and estate wine producers up to 13% alcohol by volume. Henceforth, other small producers of alcoholic beverages, such as small distilleries, would also be able to sell their products directly from the place of production.
The right to retail sales would require a retail sales license granted to the alcoholic beverage producer under the current law, in order to ensure proper operation and effective supervisory control by authorities. Such a retail sales license could only be obtained by holders of an alcoholic beverage production license. In practice, the licensing system ensures that traders operating in the alcohol sector are able to meet their obligations, are reached through supervision, and that their illegal activities can be effectively addressed. The purpose of the Alcohol Act is to reduce the consumption of alcoholic substances by limiting and controlling the related economic activities in order to prevent the harm caused by alcohol to its users, to other people and to society as a whole. To achieve the purpose of the Alcohol Act, it is necessary that retail sales taking place at alcohol production sites fall within the scope of supervision and are subject to the same provisions as other retail sales, for example regarding permitted sales hours and prohibitions on transfers. If on-site sales at alcohol production sites were not supervised, a new sales channel would emerge alongside the retail licensing system, with no official oversight. The proposed regulation would thus implement the purpose of the Alcohol Act in a proportionate and effective manner.
The expanded direct-sale right would apply to producers whose annual production does not exceed 100,000 litres of alcohol converted to pure alcohol. The intention is to allow only smaller, craft-style producers of alcoholic beverages to sell their own products on-site. These are typically small, highly local operators. In addition, the quantity of alcoholic beverages sold on-site during the calendar year would be limited where the alcohol content exceeds 5.5% or 8.0% by volume. The place of production may sell beverages where the alcohol content exceeds 5.5% or 8.0% by volume up to a maximum of 25,000 litres converted into pure alcohol during the calendar year.
Another condition for the retail sales right would be that a typical portion of the alcoholic beverage production takes place at the production site. Mixing, diluting, filtering, or other similar simple processing of alcoholic beverages would not be considered part of typical production. This ensures that on-site sales remain very limited in scale. In addition, the retail sale right would be limited so that the producer could sell fermented beverages containing more than 8.0% ethanol by volume and other beverages containing more than 5.5% ethanol by volume only at one production site that is physically separate from other producers of alcoholic beverages.
The proposed expanded on-site retail sales right for alcoholic beverage producers would continue to differ in nature from traditional retail sales. The purpose of the proposal is not to create a large-scale retail channel competing with Alko’s monopoly, as Alko would continue to maintain its monopoly based on the protection of public health. For this reason, the producers’ right to sell on-site would be tied to the location or immediate vicinity of their production site, and producers would not have the right to deliver fermented beverages over 8% alcohol by volume or other beverages over 5.5% alcohol by volume directly to consumers’ homes. Customers would therefore need to visit the production site in person if they wish to purchase alcoholic beverages covered by the exception from the producers.
8. The Alcohol Act would be amended to allow local small-scale producers to sell products made by them from production sites with a retail licence. The current statutory exceptions for farm wines and craft beers would be repealed, and in the future the law would define a single exception for local small producers allowing direct sales from the place of production of alcoholic beverages produced by fermentation containing more than 8.0% alcohol by volume, and of alcoholic beverages produced by other methods containing more than 5.5% alcohol by volume. The expanded direct-sale right would apply to producers whose annual production does not exceed 100,000 litres of alcohol converted to pure alcohol. A notification for the aforementioned amendments has been submitted within the framework of notification 2025/0782/FI.
Section 8 of the Alcohol Act provides for an application for a licence as intended in the Act. Subsection 2 provides for a Government Decree to lay down further provisions on the content of the licence application and the related statements.
It is proposed that the regulation be amended to take into account the new rules on small producers' rights to sell their products. Amendments would be made to the section on the content of the application for a retail licence.
9. Amendments would be made to the section on the content of the application for a retail sale licence (§ 6) of the Government Decree. If the producer of alcoholic beverages intends to sell alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content of more than 5.5/8.0 per cent from the place of production, this must be stated in the retail licence application along with the location and the contact details of the place of production.
10. Basic text references: The basic texts have been provided in connection with an earlier notification:
2025/0782/FI
2025/0315/FI
11. No
12.
13. No
14. No
15. Yes
16.
TBT aspects: No
SPS aspects: No
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European Commission
Contact point Directive (EU) 2015/1535
email: grow-dir2015-1535-central@ec.europa.eu
