Published in EUobserver, 26 February 2007
The Finnish government is getting tough. Words to send a shiver down any spine. Their action this time is directed at Estonian websites willing to export wine and spirits north across the Gulf of Finland. Their overnight delivery service does a roaring trade.
It’s an easy journey to make, and hundreds of thousands of bottles of wine make the journey every year. Estonian prices are as much as 40 per cent lower than those in Finland (thanks to the north European tradition of high alcohol taxation) and this flood of cheaper drink makes a mockery of Finnish government policies on the subject.
Now, I am as happy to buy wine and spirits as the next man (in fact, let’s be honest, I’m probably happier) but even I can see that the Finns have got a point.
Read the whole article at 070226euobserver