Marine Le Pen has pledged to freeze tobacco taxes and give retailers a greater say over vaping rules, pitching herself as a defender of France’s struggling tobacconists.
The National Rally politician’s intervention comes as research links the disappearance of local bars and tobacco shops to growing support for the far right.
In an open letter published in September, Le Pen backed tobacconists protesting over rising prices and illegal sales. She proposed ending inflation-linked increases and promised tougher action against tobacco trafficking. AFP reported the pledges as retailers began a week of national mobilisation.
A promise on vaping
Le Pen’s letter, published on National Rally’s website on 7 September, also calls for stable, clear and pragmatic rules for vaping and newer products, with tobacconists involved in decisions affecting their businesses.
She gives no detailed proposals on vape taxes, flavours or access. The commitment is to greater regulatory certainty and consultation with retailers.
On tobacco, she argues that repeated price rises encourage cross-border purchases and trafficking, penalising businesses that follow the rules. She proposes stronger penalties for illegal sellers, effective closures of shops selling contraband and greater enforcement powers for municipal police.
The letter presents tobacconists as essential to the social and economic life of towns and villages. It’s a message that has a wider political significance.
When the local bar closes
Research highlighted by The European Correspondent examined what happens politically when France’s bars-tabacs, establishments combining a bar with tobacco sales, disappear.
The January 2026 research note by University of Zurich researcher Hugo Subtil, published by CEPREMAP, analysed around 18,000 closures between 2002 and 2022 alongside election results.
It found that closures were followed by a gradual increase in the National Rally vote, even after accounting for factors including unemployment and local immigration. The estimated increase in legislative elections reached 1.28 percentage points after 20 years. Effects were three times stronger in rural communities.
Subtil identifies the loss of places where people meet and exchange views as a mechanism behind the findings. His analysis also found that National Rally linked these businesses to feelings of local decline and abandonment.
The research helps explain why defending tobacconists can carry electoral weight.
The wider EU tax battle
Le Pen’s intervention comes amid a dispute over European tobacco and nicotine taxation.
The European Commission’s proposed overhaul would raise minimum tobacco duties and introduce minimum taxes on products including vapes and nicotine pouches. The Commission argues that updating the rules would support health objectives and improve controls.
The European Parliament rejected the proposal on 17 June, with 439 votes against, 181 in favour and 38 abstentions. Its role is consultative, however, and the legislative file remains awaiting a final decision.
Marine Le Pen’s letter to French tobacconists: full English translation
Madam, Sir, Dear tobacconists,
Your profession, which I consider essential to the life of our towns and villages, is going through a particularly difficult period: the continuing rise in tobacco prices (up 90 per cent in 10 years), the explosion of the parallel market, and growing threats to the safety of your premises and yourselves. All this is resulting in widespread closures and a shift in tobacco consumption that benefits organised crime groups.
When nearly one in two cigarettes consumed in France now bypasses the legal retail network, it is essential to change our approach.
That is why, if elected President, I will put four clear commitments into practice.
1. Stop escalating taxes
The continual increase in tobacco prices cannot, on its own, serve as public policy.
When it fuels cross-border purchases and trafficking, it ultimately penalises, first and foremost, the professionals who follow the rules. I support freezing tobacco taxes and ending the linking of prices to inflation, and I will initiate negotiations at European level to tackle the unfair competition that puts you at a disadvantage. I also support abolishing the Cotisation Foncière des Entreprises (CFE).
2. Crack down much harder on traffickers
Following the example of National Rally MPs, who have tabled a bill to strengthen the fight against illegal tobacco sales, I intend to ensure that administrative closures of shops selling smuggled tobacco are enforced, substantially increase penalties for traffickers and illegal street selling, and increase sentences when theft, handling stolen goods or smuggling involves tobacco products.
3. Give more resources to officers on the ground
Action against these networks must be immediate and concrete. Very firm instructions will be given to state authorities to eradicate trafficking. I also support strengthening the powers of municipal police officers so that, in every town, they can better record offences, take part in seizures of illicit products and pass on useful information more effectively to the relevant customs, police or judicial authorities.
4. Build the profession’s future with tobacconists
For vaping, as for new products, we need stable, clear and pragmatic rules. They must not be drawn up far removed from realities on the ground. Tobacconists must be fully involved in decisions concerning their businesses, their investments and their future.
Your mobilisation, which I support wholeheartedly alongside our elected representatives, is entirely legitimate. It sets out the principles for action that, if I am elected head of state, will provide lasting protection for your business, an activity I consider vital to the social and economic life of our towns and villages: protecting those who work legally, taking real action against those who organise trafficking, restoring certainty to your profession and giving it all the proper consideration and security it deserves.
More than ever, in these circumstances, please be assured of my complete determination and my most sincere commitment to stand alongside you.
Marine Le Pen
