Apple juice paragraph
The so-called apple juice paragraph is a provision of the German Restaurant Act (GastG) , according to which at least one non-alcoholic drink in restaurants must be at most as expensive as the cheapest alcoholic drink. According to a similar regulation in Austria , there are at least two drinks. Here not only the price per glass has to be compared, but the price extrapolated to one liter must also meet the legal requirements. The regulation is intended to efficiently combat alcohol abuse. It is intended to prevent young people in pubs in particular from ordering an alcoholic drink just because it is cheaper than the non-alcoholic drinks on offer, even though they would actually prefer to drink a non-alcoholic drink. A similar regulation exists in Switzerland.
Germany
The regulation is contained in § 6 GastG serving non-alcoholic beverages in the version of the law of December 13, 2001 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 3584 ). It is:
If the serving of alcoholic beverages is permitted, non-alcoholic beverages can also be served on site upon request. At least one of these non-alcoholic drinks is no more expensive to dispense than the cheapest alcoholic drink. The price comparison is also made on the basis of the extrapolated price for a liter of the beverage in question. The licensing authority can allow exceptions for dispensing from machines.
Any drinks may not be used as a basis for comparison. Some restaurants had started to offer "unattractive drinks that did not match the usual demand behavior in the respective restaurant" . In the opinion of the legislator, this is "an attempt to circumvent this and cannot be used for the price comparison." So include milk , coffee and hot tea not to drinks that must be considered when comparing prices. The same applies to unattractive amounts, such as B. a liter of cola .
The public order office is primarily responsible for the controls in Germany .
Regulations in Austria and Switzerland
There are no identically named regulations in either of the two countries, but the content is similar. In Switzerland there are regulations in cantonal law comparable to the German norm . For example, Section 23 of the Hospitality Act of the Canton of Zurich stipulates that alcoholic restaurants have to offer a selection of non-alcoholic drinks that are not more expensive than the cheapest alcoholic drink in the same quantity. In the opinion of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court , such a provision does not affect either the principle of freedom of trade or that of proportionality.
In Austria, an increase in the price of mineral water to the level of alcoholic beverages was observed in many restaurants . Although this was sufficient for the original regulation, it still makes the alcohol appear cheaper. For this reason, the regulation has been expanded to the effect that, according to Section 112 (4) of the 1994 Trade Regulations, a second non-alcoholic drink must be offered at the same price as or cheaper than alcohol. These drinks are often referred to as the youth drink .
See also: alcoholism
swell
- ^ A b Metzner: Restaurant Act. 6th edition 2002, § 6 Rn. 17th
- ↑ Reasons for the amendment to § 6 sentence 2 GastG, BT-Drs. 14/4937, p. 3 (PDF; 49 kB).
- ↑ BGE 109 Ia p. 33 ff.
