Sweden’s health minister wants to raise alcohol taxes in EU and restrict cross-border trade to prevent alcohol-related harm.

Christian Democrat Göran Hägglund wants to roll out Sweden’s restrictive alcohol policy in Europe and put new EU-wide rules into practice as a part of the Swedish EU presidency.

The suggestion will be put forward during a meeting with the other European health ministers in Jönköping on Tuesday, Swedish Radio reports. The aim is to prevent alcohol-related harm, a swelling problem in many European countries.

To get the Europeans to drink less, Göran Hägglund argues that its essential to raise alcohol taxes and restrict the amount of alcohol that the European citizens are allowed to bring back home after a trip abroad.

However, he has already a back-up plan if his suggestion doesn’t land well with the other ministers. If the EU-members don’t agree he will try to negotiate a Swedish exception. That would allow Swedes to bring back less booze from foreign trips than people in other member countries.

In June Finland's parliament unanimously agreed to hike alcohol taxes by up to 10 percent in an effort to curb excessive drinking, the leading cause of death in the Nordic country.