Finance Ministers from 15 EU Member States have urged Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to update the EU’s tobacco and nicotine tax framework “without delay”, slamming the EU’s executive for failing to “deliver on the expectations of EU Member States and citizens in this regard”.
According to Ministers, “the current scope and provisions of the Directive are insufficient to enable Member States to deal with the significant challenges posed by ongoing developments and trends in the European tobacco market, including the emergence of novel products”.
The Commission had planned to propose new tobacco and nicotine taxes in 2022, but the legislation was never adopted because of concerns around high inflation. With inflation now back to pre-COVID levels, some Member States are hoping to revive the idea.
A leak of the 2022 proposal seen by the Financial Times would increase the price of nicotine pouches by around 50% and more than double the price of vapes in some cases.
EU Tax Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told MEPs that he hoped that the Commission would adopt a new tax proposal by the summer, as first revealed on Clearing the Air. But passing such a proposal would require unanimity among Member States, and that is proving difficult to achieve, with Romania, Greece and Italy known to be against any changes to the current rules.
In the letter, Finance Ministers ask the Commission to accelerate proposals for new EU tobacco and nicotine taxes despite delays in the adoption of a proposal on tobacco and nicotine products in general, which would address packaging and flavours and fall under a different legislative procedure.
In a move that indicates just how politically difficult the proposal of a new Tobacco Products Directive has become, Ministers have told the Commission that
“the lack of initiative in this area cannot be justified by delays in the revision of…the Tobacco Products Directive (Directive 2014/40/EU). While both pieces of legislation share some common objectives, there is no clear precedent or need for these Directives to be negotiated in tandem, and therefore they must be considered as standalone provisions”.
The letter comes as Commissioner for Health Oliver Varhelyi – who has made false statements about vaping to a Committee of the European Parliament – meets with anti-tobacco lobbyists Smoke Free Partnership today. SFP is thought to be one of many Health NGOs whose operating grants from the EU Commission can no longer cover lobbying activity, raising questions about the meeting’s compliance with new rules.
Separately, the Belgian and Dutch Health Ministers have met today to discuss whether the TPD can be expedited, although chances are thought to be slim given that finance ministers seem to have accepted the delay.
