Tag: European Union

Brussels to Propose First EU-Wide Vaping Levy
In a long-anticipated move, the European Union is to propose a bloc-wide vaping tax policy as part of a shake-up of levies on the tobacco industry. The new rules would also double excise duties in member states with low cigarette taxes, according to a draft European Commission document.
The update to the 2011 EU tobacco taxation directive will tax novel smoking products, such as e-cigarettes, vapes and heated tobacco, comparatively with combustible cigarettes as policymakers worldwide take an increasingly dim view of the new products’ popularity among young people.
Products with a high nicotine content would have an excise duty of at least 40 percent applied to them, while lower-strength vapes will face a 20 percent duty. Heated tobacco products will also be hit by 55 percent duty, or a tax rate of €91 per 1,000 items sold.
The changes to legislation, part of a push by Brussels to cut smoking rates, will increase the EU’s minimum excise duty on cigarettes from €1.80 to €3.60 per pack of 20, which would raise prices in eastern European nations where packs can sell for under €3.
Alberto Alemanno, professor of EU law at HEC Paris business school, told the Financial Times that the absence of an EU-wide excise framework for vaping and heated tobacco products had been “weakening tobacco control efforts” across the bloc.
Excise duties on cigarettes would also increase considerably in countries such as Austria and Luxembourg where prices are low relative to income. The tax rise on cigarettes is expected to generate an extra €9.3 billion for EU member states.
The changes aim to speed up the EU’s push for a “tobacco-free generation” by 2040. As part of the EU’s Beating Cancer Plan, health officials want to drive tobacco use among EU citizens from the current level of about 25 percent down to 20 percent in 2025, and below 5 percent by 2040.
The commission this month imposed a ban on flavored heated tobacco products to curtail a surge in demand among younger consumers. In the U.S., regulators at the Food and Drug Administration have moved to ban popular vaping products, such as Juul.
Peter van der Mark, secretary-general of the European Smoking Tobacco Association, an industry body, warned that “if you have a sudden very steep increase, you can create a market for illicit trade.” Dustin Dahlmann, president of the Independent European Vape Alliance, added that imposing taxes on novel tobacco products could lead to “the much less harmful alternatives” to smoking being “taxed far too heavily in many countries.”
A leaked impact assessment said that the increase in the minimum excise duty would have “a strong impact on consumers and economic operators” in EU states where cigarette prices were low, including Bulgaria, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary. The assessment also noted that the excise duty on novel tobacco products “which are particularly appealing to young people, who are at risk of developing addiction” would aid public health efforts to cut tobacco use.
The proposal will have to be agreed by all EU member states before it is enshrined in law. British American Tobacco, one of the world’s biggest cigarette manufacturers, stressed this was “the beginning of a long legislative process.”
November 27, 2022
Heated Tobacco Flavor Ban Begins on Nov. 23 in EU

The European Union on Nov. 3 published the directive officially banning flavors in heated tobacco product throughout the union, reports TobaccoIntelligence.
The publication follows the end of the scrutiny period on Oct. 29, during which neither the European Council nor the European Parliament raised objections to the ban.
The ban, which covers all flavors except tobacco, officially takes effect Nov. 23. EU member states than have until July 23, 2023, to transpose the rule into national legislation.
In the runup to the ban, critics suggested the European Commission was overstepping its delegated powers by introducing a new legal category – of heated tobacco products.
Some member states raised concerns over whether the Commission was empowered to introduce a definition of a new category of tobacco products in a Delegated Act.
More recently, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece and Italy issued a joint statement, saying the introduction of a definition of heated tobacco products “goes beyond the delegated power under Directive 2014/40/EU and involves essential elements reserved for the European legislators and, as such, should be submitted to the ordinary legislative review process.”
November 7, 2022
WVA Campaigns for Harm Reduction in Strasbourg

Photo: WVA
As a kickoff for the #BackVapingBeatSmoking campaign, representatives of the World Vapers Alliance (WVA) presented Members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg with a “Vaping Products Directive” to show how e-cigarettes need to be treated to fulfill their potential as tobacco harm reduction tools.
The campaign launches as European legislators review the Tobacco Products Directive. Responding to the EU Commission’s public call for evidence, the WVA has spoken out against flavor bans and excessive regulation.
“By backing vaping, we can beat smoking and save 19 million lives with sensible regulation,” said Michael Landl, director of the WVA. “The EU call for evidence has seen a record number of 24,000 responses, showing that consumers want to embrace tobacco harm reduction, and it happens that vaping has been proven one of the most successful so far.
“The EU needs to put an end to current discussions about flavor bans, and vaping must be kept affordable and accessible. It is time for the EU to fully endorse tobacco harm reduction and to make vaping a centerpiece of it.”
The #BackVapingBeatSmoking campaign launched in Strasbourg, France, with a “Don’t Let 19 Million Lives Fall” protest art installation and will spread to 10 cities in six countries during October 2022 through November 2022.
“We will host community events and protests in France, Poland, Czech Republic, Italy, Portugal and Belgium to draw attention to one of the most crucial pieces of legislation for the future of vaping. It is time for politicians to listen to consumers and science,” said Landl in a statement.
The WVA has also launched a petition against harmful vaping regulation, such as flavor bans or high taxation on vaping products. The signatures will be delivered to Members of the European Parliament at the end of the tour in November.

October 8, 2022
Numerous Public Comments on EU Tobacco Changes

Credit: Savvapanf Photo
An overwhelming majority of EU citizens who responded to a European Commission initiative say they support tobacco harm reduction products.
The Commission’s “Call for Evidence” on the legislative framework for tobacco control received an unprecedented level of feedback, with consumers of alternatives to tobacco products – vaping, heated tobacco and oral nicotine pouches – making their voices heard in huge numbers, according to EU Political Report.
More than 24,000 EU citizens responded to the call, launched by the Commission as part of its ongoing evaluation of what future EU tobacco laws will look like through revision of the Tobacco Products Directive.
The massive interest in the issue may surprise some and may put the European Commission on the back foot as has been seen by some as having previously failed to support ‘tobacco harm reduction’.
The 4-week public consultation, from May 20 May to June 17, had one of the biggest ever responses to a consultation. On average, calls of this length receive around 354 submissions. In recent years, only the “call for evidence” for a digital euro for Europe received a similar scale of a response, but still fell short of the 20,000 submission mark despite taking place over a longer period of time (10 weeks).
Of the 24.000 submissions, more than 90 percent came from individual EU citizens, suggesting the extent to which this issue is a priority for the European public at large. Many submissions came from citizens in Germany, Italy and Romania.
It showed that the biggest issue for citizens across all member states is the regulation of reduced-risk products such as e-cigarettes. On this, it has been argued that the Commission it out of sync with public opinion.
The Commission has favored the introduction of new restrictions on reduced risk products, including flavor bans and sale restrictions but some in the industry hope the public response could now force it to reconsider these plans.
In June, the Commission announced plans to prohibit the sale of flavored heated tobacco products in the EU. The proposal came, it said, in response to the “significant increase” in the volumes of heated tobacco products sold across the EU.
A Commission report showed a 10 percent pick up in the sales volumes of heated tobacco products in more than five Member States and overall in the EU, heated tobacco products exceeded 2.5 % of total sales of tobacco products.
An overwhelming majority of submissions supported tobacco harm reduction products, including vaping and nicotine pouches, as “critical tools” that have helped smokers to quit. Respondents were nearly unanimous in opposing any plans to restrict access to such products for adults over the age of 18.
July 22, 2022
EU Lawmakers Propose Flavor Ban for Heated Tobacco
Credit: DMF87
The European Commission on June 29 proposed a ban on the sale of flavored heated tobacco products.
Contrary to other media reports, the proposal does not include e-cigarettes or vaping products that use an e-liquid that contains a liquid nicotine. The ban only applies to heated tobacco products, such as Glo or IQOS.
The move is part of Europe’s “beating cancer plan,” which envisions less than 5 percent of the EU population using tobacco by 2040.
“With nine out of 10 lung cancers caused by tobacco, we want to make smoking as unattractive as possible to protect the health of our citizens and save lives,” said EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides.
According to EU figures, cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the bloc of 450 million residents. There are about 1.3 million cancer deaths and 3.5 million new cases per year in the EU.
Kyriakides said that regulators need to “keep pace” with new developments to “address the endless flow of new products entering the market.”
A recent report showed a 10 percent increase in sales volumes of flavored heated tobacco products in more than five EU countries between 2018 and 2020. Overall in the EU, these products exceeded 2.5 percent of total tobacco product sales in 2020.
The Council and the Parliament will debate the Commission’s proposal before it enters into force 20 days after the publication in the Official Journal. EU countries will have eight months to transpose the directive into national law, and a further three months before the provisions will apply.
June 29, 2022
Experts Urge EU to Embrace Harm Reduction

Photo: courtyardpix
Medical and addiction experts called on the EU to embrace tobacco harm reduction during an event organized by the Centre for Economic and Market Analysis (CETA) in Prague.
Debating how a tobacco-free generation—where less than 5 percent of EU-citizens use tobacco—can be achieved by 2040, they concluded that the objectives laid out in Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan cannot be attained under current circumstances and that a revised tobacco control policy based on scientific evidence is needed.
“If the European Commission is serious about its plans to reduce the number of smokers and the impact of smoking, it must start considering the concept of risk reduction in the area of smoking,” said Czech National Drug Coordinator Manager Jindřich Vobořil, in a statement.
“The Czech Government has committed itself to this approach in its program statement for the upcoming [EU] Presidency. I will also promote it in relation to the ongoing evaluation of the Tobacco Products Directive, which is an effective policy to achieve a real reduction in the number of smokers of conventional cigarettes,” he added.
“The data show that the abstinence approach is inadequate. The solution for smokers is to switch to less harmful alternatives,” noted Ernest Groman, of the Vienna Nicotine Institute. The only European country close to the 5 percent target is Sweden. According to the experts, the low number of smokers is mainly due to the availability of less harmful alternatives.
During the event, the CETA published a study ranking EU member states according to their ability to implement the concept of risk reduction. The Czech Republic finished second.
The Czech government should use the upcoming EU Presidency to undertake a comprehensive review of tobacco dependence policies based on science rather than emotion, according to CETA Research Director Aleš Rod, who also sits on a Czech government advisory board.
June 10, 2022
EU Parliament Endorses Vapor as Cessation Tool

Credit: Savvapanf Photo
The EU Parliament has adopted, by a margin of 652 votes to 15, a report on Cancer prevention and Treatment that recognizes the potential contribution of vapor products to smoking cessation. The report notes that “electronic cigarettes could allow some smokers to progressively quit smoking.”
In adopting the report, the EU Parliament has become the world’s first elected chamber to endorse tobacco harm reduction, according to the Independent European Vape Association (IEVA).
“This is a landmark declaration by the European Parliament, which should go a long way to reassuring smokers of the health benefits that a switch to vaping can bring,” said IEVA President Dustin Dahlmann in a statement. “We now encourage the other EU institutions—and in particular, the European Commission—to take this on board and ensure that policy follows science, not the other way around.”
In addition to measures to reduce cancer incidence, the committee’s report places a special focus on the serious health effects of smoking.
The report also stresses the need for further research on vaping to be viewed in relative terms, given that tobacco smoking kills and vaping does not.
The final text of the report also includes a mention of further assessment of flavors “particularly attractive to minors and non-smokers” and a possible ban on them in the context of the review of the Tobacco Products Directive.
The IEVA says its crucial to avoid a flavor ban because the variety of flavors is one of the top reasons for adult smokers to switch to e-cigarettes and for vapers not to return to smoking.
“Research into the impact of flavor bans shows that many vapers return to smoking as a result [of a ban],” said Dahlmann. “This must be prevented. We agree that steps must be taken to curtail inappropriate marketing, while recognizing the crucial role flavors play in helping smokers quit.”

February 18, 2022
Critics Say TPD Plans Would Ban Most Vaping Products
The Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA) has expressed concern about “the content and the tone” of the European Commission’s recent report on the application of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), which suggests that further restrictions on vapers might be proposed.
Credit: Yuri4u80
According to the IEVA, the effect of the Commission’s proposals would be to ban most vaping products on the market today.
“While the Commission is careful not to say it out loud, its proposals would effectively ban most vaping products available today,” the organization wrote in a press release. “It suggests revising all the unjustifiable limits the last TPD set downwards, removing most flavors and banning many of the devices commonly used today. Vapers in the EU would lose most of the products they use to stay away from cigarettes today. A flavor ban alone would, according to the Commission’s own figures, remove two thirds of today’s vaping market.”
The IEVA says the report fails to acknowledge the concept of harm reduction. “The report fails to acknowledge any of the evidence on the relative risks of vaping and smoking,” the IEVA wrote. “This is despite member state governments running campaigns trying to encourage smokers to switch to Vaping. Santé Publique France, for example, has launched an anti-smoking campaign called ‘Je choisis la vapotage’ (‘I choose vaping’) which makes clear that “you can use vaping products without taking short-term health risks”. The Commission must take account of best practice in the EU, not ignore it.”
Some of the report’s proposals on vaping, says the IEVA, could also lead to more young people smoking.
“Shortly after this report was published, Yale University released the first real world study on the effect of flavor bans on youth smoking prevalence,” the IEVA stated. “In the City of San Francisco flavored vaping products were banned in 2018. Since then, smoking has doubled among high school students in the area relative to trends in districts without the ban, even when adjusting for individual demographics and other tobacco policies. This study was funded by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products. There was no industry involvement in the study.”
The IEVA says the report insufficiently focuses on the real enemy of public health—smoking. “While the Commission does question whether the nicotine threshold for vaping products should be lower, it has brushed aside calls from members of the European Parliament to adapt the method for measuring tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in cigarette smoke,” the IEVA wrote. “This combination of policies would ensure that cigarettes deliver far more nicotine—an addictive substance—than vaping products. While there have been no reported deaths in Europe caused by vaping TPD regulated products, smoking kills half of its regular users.”
June 7, 2021
Vape Alliance: EU Scientific Committee Ignores Science
Photo: pavel_shishkin
The European Commission has missed an opportunity to bolster its Beating Cancer Plan and recognize the importance of vaping in reducing smoking-related diseases among Europeans, according to the Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA).
A recent report from the Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) fails to compare the risks of electronic cigarette use with the risks of smoking, the IEVA noted in statement. “Such an omission renders the report of little use to policy makers,” it wrote. “An assessment of the impact e-cigarettes have had on European public health must be informed by this evidence.”
Independent and publicly funded scientific research has shown that e-cigarette use is far less harmful than smoking, according to the IEVA.
“The SCHEER committee has failed to present scientific data on vaping in a comprehensive and balanced manner,” said Dustin Dahlmann, President of IEVA. “The result is a report that is little more than a series of baseless predetermined assertions. Another opportunity to educate smokers willing to switch to less harmful alternatives has been wasted, and this alone has serious public health implications. We urge decision makers in Brussels to integrate harm reduction in their overall strategy.”

Another opportunity to educate smokers willing to switch to less harmful alternatives has been wasted.
Dustin Dahlmann, President, IEVA
An earlier draft of this report was put to public consultation in September 2020 and was widely criticized. Yet the final report reiterates the core findings of the initial draft.
A comprehensive critique of this draft was published in the peer-reviewed Harm Reduction Journal. The authors assert that “the Opinion’s conclusions are not adequately backed up by scientific evidence and did not discuss the potential health benefits of using alternative combustion-free nicotine-containing products as substitute for tobacco cigarettes”.
The Harm Reduction Journal report recommends seven crucial areas that the Committee should have considered to address this significant deficit, but SCHEER has decided not to do so. These were:
the potential health benefits of ENDS substitution for cigarette smoking
alternative hypotheses and contradictory studies on the gateway effect
its assessment of cardiovascular risk,
the measurements of frequency of use
non-nicotine use
the role of flavors
a fulsome discussion of cessation
Earlier this week, the World Vaper Alliance expressed similar concerns about the SHEER report.
May 3, 2021
EU Parliament Members Surveyed on E-Cig Knowledge
Photo: Dan Johnston from Pixabay
How much politicians know about e-cigarettes and other novel tobacco products has a major effect on their perceptions of safety and risk, new research suggests.
A survey of members of the European Parliament (MEPs) found that those who were knowledgeable about novel tobacco products were far more likely than those with no knowledge to consider them less risky than smoking.
The survey conducted by ECigIntelligence and TobaccoIntelligence, independent data providers to the sector, found that:
A high proportion of MEPs have no knowledge about new nicotine products.
Views on risk seem linked to knowledge of the products. Those MEPs with knowledge of the products are more likely to consider the products less risky than smoking; those with no knowledge are more likely to consider the products the same or more harmful compared to smoking.
Most MEPs believe new nicotine products are likely to help existing smokers quit.
MEPs predominantly think that vaping is safer than smoking, but up to one in five think that some new nicotine products can be as risky as smoking.
The survey was carried out online and anonymously, and all data remains confidential other than in consolidated analysis. It was sent to all MEPs (from all member states and political parties), and responses were obtained from over 30 MEPs, representing nearly 5 percent of the European Parliament.
March 24, 2021