Alcohol, when drunk to excess, is a significant cause of disease and premature death, and can be a fuel for public disorder and crime. Most states which do not altogether prohibit the consumption of alcohol have policies aimed at combating alcohol abuse. The EU does not however currently have a strategy on alcohol. By a significant margin, Europe has the highest per capita alcohol consumption of any world region, and the United Kingdom is well above the average of the consumption league. But there are wide variations across the Member States, and indeed regionally within Member States: variations in the type and strength of alcohol consumed, variations in the distribution of consumption by sex and by age, variations in the type and degree of harm caused. There are variations in cost, in duties, in laws on sale and on advertising, in age limits, and in other aspects of policy aimed at reducing alcohol abuse, and at treating the problems it causes. The Committee considers many of these matters.