European Beer Consumers' Union

The European Beer Consumers Union (EBCU) is a consumer organisation founded in 1990 in Bruges by three national beer organisations, CAMRA (United Kingdom), Objectieve Bierproevers (Belgium) and PINT (Netherlands).

Aims

The union campaigns on European level to:

• Preserve traditions in European beer culture particularly regional and local producers using traditional methods.
• Promote craft beers and breweries including local/national beer styles and breweries and help support small breweries to prevent assimilation into multinational companies.
• Represent beer drinkers to ensure consumers receive quality beers and value for money and choice in the marketplace.

Current members

The union currently has 13 constituent members:

Country	Acronym	Organisation Name	Founded
United Kingdom	CAMRA	Campaign for Real Ale	1971
Netherlands	PINT	Vereniging Promotie Informatie Traditioneel Bier PINT	1980
Belgium	ZYTHOS	Zythos	2003
Switzerland	ABO	L'Association des Buveurs d'Orge	1991
Austria	BierIG	BierIG Österreich	2002
Denmark	DBE	Danske Ølentusiaster	1998
Norway	NORØL	Norske Ølvenners Landsforbund	1993
Finland		Olutliitto	1992
Sweden	SÖ	Svenska Ölfrämjandet	1985
Poland	BP	Bractwo Piwne	1995
Italy		Unionbirrai	1999
Czech Republic	SPP	Sdružení přátel piva	1990
Ireland		Beoir	2010

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.

In 2012, Terry Lock, chairman since 1999, retired and Henri Reuchlin from the Netherlands was elected to replace him.^[1]

References

1. EBCU Press Release: Dutchman to lead European Beer Consumers

External links

• Official Site
• Campaign for Real Ale official site
• PINT official site
• Zythos official site
• Bractwo Piwne official site