EU Commission faces rising pressure to tax vapes and nicotine pouches

euronews (in English)

EU Commission faces rising pressure to tax vapes and nicotine pouches  Countries like Italy, Greece and Romania, which have lower taxes than other member states, are against the proposal.   READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/06/02/eu-commission-faces-rising-pressure-to-tax-vapes-and-nicotine-pouches  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

Transcript

00:00A lot has changed since EU tobacco taxation rules were last updated in 2011.

00:07Novel nicotine products, including fruit-flavoured vapes and nicotine pouches, entered the market, and use skyrocketed.

00:14A revision of tax rules was proposed, with an emphasis on the role of raising prices to reduce use.

00:21However, concerns over high inflation delayed this revision.

00:25Experts and EU ministers questioned the delay, stressing a review is essential.

00:30Four teenagers out of ten vaped in the last months.

00:35And then when we also look at the data of consumption of heated tobacco products that are also available on the market,

00:42and nicotine pouches, in some regions the prevalence is very high.

00:46We see that because these products are not taxed properly in the EU, some countries are not taxing them or barely taxing,

00:54they became very accessible, and not just to adults, but to children.

01:01And that's the reason why revision of the directive is urgent now.

01:07Fifteen EU countries wrote to the Commission underlining that the current directive is insufficient.

01:12In response, the European executive reiterated intentions to tackle the long-awaited directive.

01:18The current proposal substantially raises minimum excise rates for cigarettes and cigars.

01:24It would also, for the first time, target e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches and heated tobacco,

01:29with a focus on suppressing the youth market.

01:32However, the sector opposed this reasoning.

01:35A tax will not help in this case, because the tax will make the products more attractive for black market dealers.

01:44And these kind of people and businesses don't care about protecting the miners.

01:50So we think that, or we see in the Member States where we already have high tax in place,

01:56that it's fueling the black market, and therefore the protection of the consumers and of course of the miners,

02:03is not better than in other countries.

02:07Lobby groups also argued e-cigarettes are key tools to stop smoking.

02:11But some health experts warned caution is needed, as the long-term risks of e-cigarettes are not yet clear.

02:17Meanwhile, the proposal requires unanimity, which seems a long way off.

02:22Countries like Italy, Greece and Romania, who are tobacco producers and invested in alternatives,

02:27are lobbying against it.

Category

Transcript

Recommended