Tag: European Union

EU Resolution to Ban Vaping in Public Places

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Several MEPs are finalizing their draft joint resolution on smoke- and aerosol-free environments. The topic will be debated in plenary on Wednesday (November 27), and the text will be put to a vote in the European Parliament the following day.
According to the document, seen by Euractiv, MEPs primarily aim to urge member states to “extend public smoking bans to new and emerging products such as heated tobacco, e-cigarettes, and other aerosol-emitting products.”
The draft resolution proposes extending smoking and aerosol use bans to key outdoor areas, including outdoor restaurants and cafés, workplaces, the surroundings of healthcare facilities, educational institutions, care facilities, and public transport, including bus and tram stops, and train stations.
Railway platforms, airports, recreational areas, and other areas of high congregation would also fall under the scope of these restrictions.
Furthermore, the Commission, according to the document, should conduct studies and encourage research on the risks of secondhand exposure to heated tobacco and aerosols, including those emitted by e-cigarettes.
The document, which must still be finalised before the vote, also highlights the need to combat the sale of black-market vaping products. According to the draft resolution, “the Commission and member states should commit to taking stricter measures.”
November 26, 2024
UK Sets Out Vaping Tax, Tobacco Duty in Budget

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The cost of vaping and smoking will increase following tax rises announced in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget. A new tax on vapes of £2.20 ($2.85) per 10ml of e-liquid will kick in from October 2026.
That will be accompanied by an equivalent increase of £2.20 per 100 cigarettes in tobacco duty to “maintain the financial incentive to switch from tobacco to vaping.” Reeves also set out immediate above-inflation increases of 2 percent on tobacco and 10 percent for hand-rolled tobacco.
In its last Budget before losing the election, the previous Conservative government said it wanted to introduce a vaping tax and set up a consultation on the changes. The consultation said the tax aimed to make vaping “less accessible to young people and non-smokers while also raising revenue for funding vital public services like the NHS.”
It had proposed different levels of tax based on the amount of nicotine in the vaping liquid, according to media reports. However, Reeves has instead opted for a flat rate. In its analysis of responses to the vaping consultation, the government said industry representatives and some public health bodies had opposed a three-tier structure, warning it could result in unintended consequences and create complex bureaucracy.
Head of the UK Vaping Industry Association, John Dunne, called the vape tax a “nonsensical move” that penalized people who used vapes as a method to give up smoking. “Some three million adults are former smokers thanks to vaping, which is strongly evidenced as the most effective way to quit conventional cigarettes, saving the NHS millions of pounds in treating patients with smoking-related conditions,” he said.
The new Labour government had already said it wanted to stop vapes being branded to appeal to children and has announced a ban on single-use vapes, due to come into effect in England in June 2025. Ministers have also pledged to continue plans set out by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to ban people born in or after 2009 from buying cigarettes.
October 31, 2024
Leaked Draft: EU Wants to Ban Outdoor Vaping

The European Commission will propose extending smoking bans to outdoor areas, such as cafe terraces, bus stops and zoos. The proposal will also include nicotine-free products, according to leaked documents.
The recommendations include “heated-tobacco products and electronic cigarettes, whether containing nicotine or nicotine-free.” The commission also wants to include “tobacco surrogates and any other smoke and/or aerosol emitting products, according to the documents.
“The evidence on the use of emerging products as a cessation aid is inconclusive,” the documents said. The recommendations follow growing evidence that secondhand exposure to “aerosols from electronic cigarettes, both with and without nicotine, expose bystanders to quantifiable levels of particulate matter and key toxicants and contaminants.”
“The level of coverage of smoke-free rules varies greatly based on the type of smoke-free environments, and the general level of coverage of outdoor spaces in smoke-free policies is low,” the commission said.
The new guidelines would include outdoor or semi-outdoor, meaning partially covered or enclosed spaces like rooftops, balconies, porches and patios, associated with service establishments such as restaurants, bars and cafes. Public transport hubs like bus stops and airports and outdoor areas linked to workplaces, hospitals and nursing homes would also be included. Recreational areas where children are present would also be covered, including public playgrounds, amusement parks, swimming pools and zoos as well as educational premises ranging from preschool childcare to university.
The new recommendations are expected to be announced Sept. 17.
The leaked proposal has already received backlash from the World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA). “The commission is making a disastrous mistake by lumping vaping with smoking,” said Michael Landl, director of the WVA. “This sends a dangerous message to millions of smokers who need vaping to quit. This falsely equates vaping with smoking, misleading millions into believing vaping is just as harmful when it’s actually 95 percent less harmful. There is virtually no secondhand vaping, and it is way less harmful than smoking. These recommendations will keep more people smoking and put public health at greater risk by equating vaping with smoking.”
“The commission is outright misleading smokers by claiming vaping and smoking are the same,” said Alberto Gomez Hernandez, policy manager at the WVA. “This blatant disregard for science and consumer choice ignores the facts. Allowing vaping in smoke-free areas could drive more smokers to switch, cutting smoking deaths across Europe. Instead, they’re blocking a proven harm reduction tool and putting lives at risk.”
September 17, 2024
EU-Wide Flavor Ban Debated by Health Ministers

EU health ministers on June 21 discussed proposals to restrict flavors in consumer nicotine products, such as vapes and nicotine pouches.
The EU Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council will consider proposals from Latvia and Denmark to support an EU-wide flavor ban and a crackdown on cross-border sales, among other recommendations.
If the health ministers reach consensus support for these proposals, the next step would be to ask the European Commission to introduce draft legislation, which would eventually be voted on by the council and the European Parliament, according to Vaping360.
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Slovenia already ban vape flavors. Spain recently completed a public consultation on a proposed flavor ban while Latvia reportedly is in the process of introducing flavor restrictions.
The Tobacco Products Directive allows the member states to set their own rules for flavors. The Latvian proposal asserts that individual bans don’t work due to cross-border sales, among other factors.
Vaping activists have urged the EU to keep e-cigarette flavors legal.
“By supporting a flavor ban, EU health ministers would push millions of adults back to smoking or into the black market, endangering lives and ignoring scientific evidence. A flavor ban would be a huge step backward for public health and harm reduction,” said Michael Landl, director of the World Vapers’ Alliance, in a statement.
“Scientific research consistently shows that flavors play a crucial role in helping smokers quit. The endorsement of the flavor ban ignores those findings and the clear will of the people, opting instead for a policy that will cause more harm than good. The World Vapers’ Alliance will continue fighting for reasonable, evidence-based policies that truly protect public health.”
June 24, 2024
Flavor Bans Threat to EU Smoke-Free Ambitions: Tholos

Image: Arcady
The Tholos Foundation has launched three white papers exposing the risks of banning flavors in vaping products at an event in Brussels hosted by Parliament Magazine and featuring contributions from Swedish MEP Johan Nissinen. The reports cover the impact of flavor bans in the real world, best practices to educate adult smokers and restrict underage usage, and analyze the public response to the European Commission’s 2023 public consultation.
Surveys commissioned by the Tholos Foundation and conducted by Ipsos in multiple countries have shown that a significant majority of vapers use flavors other than tobacco to help reduce and quit smoking. Notably, 83 percent of vapers in Germany stated that flavors are crucial in their decision to vape, with similar high percentages reported in Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden. The research also showed that, in countries where flavors were banned, many vapers went back to smoking or for black market alternative, and reference numerous scientific studies confirming that flavors are essential for the effectiveness of vaping products in smoking cessation.
With European elections due to take place shortly, the Tholos Foundation believes it is imperative policymakers take heed of voters’ concerns and reject extensive restrictions on smoking alternatives.
“The evidence is clear: flavors in vaping products are critical to helping smokers quit,” said co-author Tim Andrews in a statement. “Banning flavors will create a black market and drive people back to smoking. Our reports offer an evidence-based approach that combines rigorous law enforcement, education, and technological innovations to reduce underage experimentation while preserving the benefits for adult smokers.
“With the European elections approaching, it is crucial for policymakers to understand the importance of harm reduction strategies. Our findings support a balanced approach that protects public health and helps smokers transition to safer alternatives.”
The Tholos Foundation is an international non-governmental organization, affiliated with Americans for Tax Reform, dedicated to advocating for consumers.
May 31, 2024
Czechia Bans Flavors for Heated Tobacco Products

Photo: diy13
The sale of flavored heated-tobacco products (HTPs) will be banned in the Czech Republic, effective today, reports Expats.cz. A European directive requires that EU member states incorporate the ban into their legal frameworks effective Oct. 23. The directive does not allow for a transitional period for sale of existing stock.
Slightly more than half of HTP users prefer flavored tobacco, according to Jiri Sochor, spokesperson for JT International. Sochor noted that based on U.S. ban results, some people reverted to traditional combustible cigarettes.
The ban will not take effect simultaneously in neighboring countries, Sochor said, noting that only Germany has introduced it. Due to this, people are likely to purchase flavored products abroad.
Flavored heated-tobacco products generate about CZK2.9 billion ($125.16 million) in consumer taxes annually, according to Sochor.
Companies are responding to HTP flavors ban by introducing new, tobacco-free products. British American Tobacco, for example, has begun selling heat sticks with nicotine-infused rooibos tea. Certain tobacco firms have also opposed the ban, and the legislation will be addressed by the EU Court of Justice due to complaints from Irish companies.
October 23, 2023
European Elections Could Impact Support of Vaping

Credit: Savvapanf Photo
Elections in several European countries could affect support of reduced-risk nicotine products like e-cigarettes, according to Tamarind Intelligence Policy Radar research.
Governments in Europe are the most likely to officially support reduced-risk products.
According to Tamarind Intelligence, forthcoming elections in Finland, Spain, Ireland and the Czech Republic as well as elections for the European Parliament could be significant in determining the future of the products.
“Our analysis of official attitudes toward e-cigarettes and other tobacco harm reduction products shows some clear global trends,” said Tamarind Intelligence Editorial Director Barnaby Page. “For example, European countries tend to have more favorable attitudes while Asian countries tend to be much more polarized.
“However, the laws in this area can change very rapidly—sometimes because government itself changes or at other times because issues such as underage vaping or the environmental impact of disposable vapes come into the spotlight.”
Researchers expect worldwide regulation of reduced-risk products to become stricter, especially in upper-middle-income and high-income countries. Flavored products are expected to receive the most attention with countries proposing bans on the products.
June 2, 2023
Proposed EU Vape Tax Needs to be Done Properly

Unless properly structured, Europe’s tobacco and vapor tax plans may not achieve their public health objectives.
By Stefanie Rossel
The European Commission’s (EC) December 2022 proposal for an update to the 2011 EU tobacco excise directive came with a first: In addition to a significant hike in cigarette excise rates, the draft also calls for a bloc-wide vaping levy.
According to the proposal, the current minimum EU excise tax rate of €1.80 ($1.92) should increase to €3.60 per pack of 20 cigarettes. This would double excise duties in member states with low cigarette taxes (in eastern European countries, a pack of cigarettes can currently sell for under €3) and affect excise duties in countries such as Luxembourg and Austria, where cigarette prices are low relative to income. The EU hopes to generate an additional €9.3 billion in revenue from the tax harmonization, which would be a welcome windfall for pandemic-struck and inflation-struck member states. If enacted, the proposal would also increase taxes on hand-rolled tobacco.
E-cigarettes with less than 15 mg of nicotine per milliliter of liquid would attract a 20 percent excise duty, and stronger products would be subject to a duty of at least 40 percent. In the EU, nicotine content of e-liquids is limited to 20 mg per milliliter. According to the draft proposal, heated-tobacco products (HTPs) would attract a 55 percent excise duty, or a tax of €91 per 1,000 items sold.
The proposed legislation would harmonize the fragmented EU vapor market, where each member state taxes vapor and HTP products at its own rates. It is part of a push aimed at accelerating the reduction of smoking rates throughout the EU. As part of the common market’s Beating Cancer Plan, introduced by the EC in February 2021, health officials seek to lower the current EU smoking prevalence of 26 percent to 20 percent by 2025 and achieve a “tobacco-free generation”—that is, a smoking rate of below 5 percent—by 2040.
The draft was released only weeks after the EC imposed a ban on flavored HTPs to cut the growth in demand among younger consumers. Responses were mixed. While some argued that union-wide taxes are necessary because less harmful products still present risk, tobacco harm reduction advocates warned for unintended consequences.
Too High, Too Complex
David Sweanor
“Simply increasing cigarette taxes is a blunt instrument when trying to reduce the health toll from cigarette smoking,” says David Sweanor, adjunct professor of law at the University of Ottawa in Canada. “It is far more powerful than other standard anti-smoking measures but has limitations and constraints that are often overlooked. Price sensitivity is real, but many people who smoke cigarettes will seek to deal with increased costs through access to contraband, the cross-border trade, simply changing the way they smoke without achieving health improvements, or further diminishing their overall well-being by redirecting expenditures from healthier purchases to the purchase of cigarettes.”
Taxing low-risk alternatives reduces the incentive to switch from cigarettes and can make illicit cigarettes more competitive, according to Sweanor. In his view, it is akin to making alcoholics who give up drinking by taking up jogging pay a tax on running shoes. “It misses the point of how taxes can be justified due to the relative health impact of certain behaviors,” he says.
Dustin Dahlmann
Dustin Dahlmann, president of the Independent European Vape Alliance, believes that EU policy should be guided by scientific evidence. “Science around the world agrees that vaping is significantly less harmful than smoking,” he says. “E-cigarette taxes that are too high [to] prevent socially disadvantaged groups in particular from switching to e-cigarettes. In the first instance, there should not be excise duties for electronic cigarettes, as they are a means for smokers to switch to less harmful alternatives. If further harmonization of excise duties is considered, legislators should take into account the significant differences in risk profile between tobacco cigarettes and electronic cigarettes and apply the excise duties methodology accordingly, i.e., proportionality to the harm reduction benefits brought about by tobacco replacement products.”
In practice, this would mean a maximum excise duty of €1 per 10 mL or €0.10 per 1 mL of e-liquid, and it should be applied only to e-liquids with nicotine, according to Dahlmann. “The EU draft imposes a combination of an ad valorem and a specific volume base excise that would be an administrative burden for small and medium enterprises and fiscal authorities due to the additional complexity. Giving two options will lead to uncertainty, defeating the purpose of a harmonization of excise rates.”
Illicit Trade Could Increase
The question about how the EU’s revised tobacco tax directive would impact the illicit cigarette market is justified. The experience of France provides a cautionary tale. Following a tax increase of almost three times the EC’s minimum level, the illicit market in that country more than doubled, from 13.7 percent in 2017 to 29.4 percent in 2021, leading to an estimated loss of €6.2 billion in tax revenues in 2021, according to a KPMG report. In general, the study found, illicit consumption in the EU increased by 3.9 percent, or 1.3 billion cigarettes, in 2021, which corresponds to a loss of €10.4 billion in taxes.
How the suggested excise duty increase would impact markets with relatively low income and high smoking levels, such as Greece (42 percent smoking prevalence) and Bulgaria (38 percent), is anybody’s guess. “I have worked globally on illicit trade issues for decades,” says Sweanor. “There is much we can do to limit the trade, but the economics makes [illicit cigarette trade] so lucrative that it is hard to imagine bringing it under control so long as there remains a significant market for cigarettes. Markets meet needs, including illicitly. Cigarettes are extraordinarily inexpensive to make, and taxes and the huge profit margins of Big Tobacco create a business opportunity many people can be expected to see as a money spinner. The real answer is to facilitate disruptive technology that makes cigarettes as undesirable to consumers as unsanitary food or leaded petrol.”
To achieve the latter, the EC would have to acknowledge the harm reduction and smoking cessation potential of novel tobacco products. In February 2022, the EU Parliament became the world’s first elected chamber to endorse THR when it adopted a resolution on cancer prevention and treatment that notes that e-cigarettes “could allow some smokers to progressively quit smoking.” Dahlmann praised the move as a “landmark declaration” that would help reassure smokers of the benefits of switching to vaping. “All other EU institutions—and in particular the European Commission—should take this on board and ensure that policy follows science, not the other way around,” he said at the time.
Sweanor is less upbeat. “The taxation of low-risk products reflects an understanding of differential risks. But it fails to come to terms with the full magnitude of the harm from cigarette smoking and the enormous potential to dramatically reduce it. When we are looking at hundreds of thousands of annual deaths, surely it is a public health emergency—and policies should reflect that. Language such as “could allow some smokers…” and policies that limit the relative acceptability of low-risk alternatives indicate that the extent of the public health opportunity is not fully grasped.”
Differentiated Approach Required
Whether the EU is prepared to part ways with anti-novel nicotine product sentiment of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which the common market has ratified, remains to be seen.
“The EU is obligated to support tobacco harm reduction as a signatory to the WHO’s FCTC as stipulated in the introduction, article 1 (d) of the treaty,” says Dahlmann. “The FCTC requires the EU to not only allow reduced-risk products but to actively promote them. However, this definition is not actively supported by the WHO. The rule here is much more ‘quit or die.’”
“The WHO’s FCTC process has followed in the footsteps of narcotics protocols in being hijacked by ideologues who seek an abstinence-only approach on drugs where total abstinence is simply not a viable nor a humane goal,” Sweanor adds. “As with those narcotics protocols, caring governments that follow the Enlightenment principles of science, reason and humanism will either creatively skirt such guidelines or simply ignore them. This is something we are now seeing unfolding globally with cannabis policies.”
The goal of the new tax directive to create a smoke-free European society, he says, is noble and achievable—and far more quickly than envisioned in that 2040 goal. “But it requires bold rather than tentative steps. Policymakers should act in ways consistent with cigarette smoking being a public health crisis of enormous importance,” says Sweanor. “The best way to tackle this is by use of cross-elasticities, of empowering and facilitating people who smoke cigarettes to make healthier choices. This is accomplished by measures such as the widest possible cost differential between lethal cigarettes and low-risk alternatives. Given the horrendous death and disease tool from cigarettes, this should be a huge priority.”
“E-cigarettes need to remain accessible and affordable to smokers from all socioeconomic backgrounds who wish to quit smoking,” says Dahlmann. “E-cigarettes offer smokers an alternative that is 95 percent less harmful than smoking. Switching from tobacco to vapor has positive individual, social and economic implications and should be encouraged, not penalized by the tax system. If taxes make vaping more expensive than smoking, many smokers will lose an incentive to switch to the much less harmful alternative. We therefore would see no chance of achieving the EU’s ambitious goals.”
Before it is enshrined in law, the proposal will have to be agreed on by all EU member states. BAT already noted that this is merely the beginning of a long legislative process. “I assume there will be amendments, but we do not yet know their likely nature,” says Sweanor. “The proposal could be changed to help facilitate a rapid public health breakthrough as people abandon lethal cigarettes in huge numbers. Or it could be amended to make that a pipe dream.”
This article first appeared in Vapor Voice‘s sister publication Tobacco Reporter.
Stefanie Rossel is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial contributor. An experienced trade journalist, she combines sharp reporting skills with in-depth knowledge of the tobacco and vapor industries. Prior to joining Tobacco Reporter, Stefanie was editor-in-chief at Tobacco Journal International, where she worked for a decade. Fluent in English, German and French, Stefanie covers tobacco news around the world. She is based in Germany.

February 1, 2023
BAT Brings Flavor Ban Fight Against EU to Irish Court
Credit: Promesa Art Studio
One of the largest tobacco companies in the world has initiated High Court proceedings against the health minister and attorney-general in Ireland.
BAT, the owner of the Irish business PJ Carroll, is seeking to bring a judicial review against a decision by the European Union to ban flavored heated tobacco products (HTPs).
The ban, first proposed by the European Commission in June, took effect last month. The case is being taken by PJ Carroll and Nicoventures, another BAT subsidiary that produces next-generation tobacco products, according to The Times.
The European Union on Nov. 3 published the directive officially banning flavors in heated tobacco product throughout the Union.
The publication followed the end of the scrutiny period on Oct. 29, during which neither the European Council nor the European Parliament raised objections to the ban.
December 25, 2022
Consumer Group Denounces EU Vape Tax Proposal

The World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA) has denounced the EU’s leaked plan to increase vaping taxes, according to the U.K. Vaping Industry Association.
“The [EU] Commission claims that higher taxes will improve public health, but the reality is the exact opposite,” said WVA Director Michael Landl. “A less harmful alternative, such as vaping, must be affordable for ordinary smokers trying to quit cigarettes. If the commission wants to reduce the burden of smoking on public health, they must make vaping more affordable and accessible, not less.
“High taxes hit the least advantaged people most. In times of multiple crises and people struggling to make ends meet, making vaping more expensive is the opposite of what we need. Policymakers must understand that tax increases on vaping will force people back to smoking or the black market, a scenario nobody wants. In times of crisis, people shouldn’t be further punished by an unscientific and ideological fight against vaping. This must be stopped,” said Landl.
“Rather than fighting vaping, the EU finally must embrace tobacco harm reduction. What we need is risk-based regulation. Vaping is 95 percent less harmful than smoking and, therefore, must not be treated the same way as conventional smoking,” added Landl.
November 29, 2022