EU Health Ministers will tomorrow discuss new restrictions on “novel tobacco and nicotine products” at a closed door lunch, according to a briefing document seen by Clearing the Air and published here (email signup required).
The working lunch “will allow Member States to identify priority areas for this evaluation –
specifically, measures to protect children and adolescents from novel and emerging tobacco and nicotine products and consideration of how a revision of the Tobacco Products Directive
(2014/40/EU) could enhance Europe’s ability to prevent nicotine addiction amongst children and adolescents” according to the briefing.
The lunch is being seen by insiders as an attempt by the Commission and prohibition-minded Member States to regain the initiative after they failed to include language encouraging bans on safer nicotine products in the conclusions to the WHO’s Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
A group of Member States including those who have seen the public health benefits of harm reduction (such as Sweden, Greece and Czechia) or where tobacco companies have made significant investments in production, blocked the move in Geneva last week despite intense pressure from the Commission and the Danish Government, which holds the EU’s rotating Presidency.
Cross border online sales in focus
Member States that want bans want the EU to copy policies like the Belgian ban on disposables or its upcoming flavour ban. This, they say, is why flavoured products remain available on their markets. The EU Commission would love to help, but is finding it increasingly difficult to find a majority in favour of prohibition.
As a result, online sales will be a particular focus of the Ministerial debate. “Several Member States have already implemented national measures to curb rising nicotine addiction among young people” the document reads, “introducing rules to make nicotine products less attractive and less accessible for young people. However, national initiatives are less effective as the sale of tobacco and nicotine is not restricted by borders. These products are readily available online, undermining national efforts to limit children’s exposure to nicotine”.
Member States already have the power to ban online sales of vaping products in their territory, and many have.
EU law to be revised
The lunch marks another early flashpoint in the long road to revising the EU’s tobacco control legislation.
“The Commission recently announced that an evaluation of the legislation on tobacco control will be published in the second quarter of 2026”, the document notes. “The working lunch will allow Member States to identify priority areas for this evaluation – specifically, measures to protect children and adolescents from novel and emerging tobacco and nicotine products and consideration of how a revision of the Tobacco Products Directive (2014/40/EU) could enhance Europe’s ability to prevent nicotine addiction amongst children and adolescents”.
