Alastair Cohen - Clearing the Air

EXCLUSIVE: EU vape and pouch tax by Summer, Commissioner tells Parliament.

Wopke Hoekstra, the European Commissioner responsible for tax policy, has told a closed door meeting of Members of the European Parliament that the Commission is aiming to propose higher taxes on safer nicotine products by the summer, according to sources who discussed…

News Legislation

“No more lobbying budgets”, tobacco control NGOs told

Dozens of public health NGOs - including some lobbying hard against safer nicotine products - have been told they can no longer use EU funds to lobby Europe’s institutions. Clearing the Air understands that the European Network for Smoking Prevention (ENSP) -…

Uncategorized

EU neighbours slam Spain’s pouch ban plan

Spain's plans to ban all nicotine pouches and most vapes have hit a significant roadblock, with six fellow European Union member states lodging formal objections to the proposed legislation. According to documents seen by El Confidencial, Italy, Sweden, Greece, the Czech Republic,…

News Harm Reduction

WHO faces severe budget cuts. Will that mean less disinformation around safer nicotine?

Officials at the World Health Organisation - whose anti-vaping messaging border on disinformation to the point where they are routinely called out on Twitter/X - are staring down the barrel of 25% staff cuts in the wake of Donald Trump’s decision to…

News Legislation

The fightback begins: Sweden seeks to block Spanish pouch ban

The Swedish government has announced that it will mount a legal challenge to Spain’s proposed ban on nicotine pouches at the EU level. Swedish Minister for Foreign Trade, Benjamin Dousa, announced that his government planned to submit what’s known as a Detailed…

News Legislation

NNPA Warns French Nicotine Pouch Ban Would Undermine Public Health and Violate EU Law

The Nordic Nicotine Pouches Alliance (NNPA) has blasted the French government’s proposed blanket ban on nicotine pouches, warning that such a move would undermine harm reduction efforts, violate EU principles, and deliver a significant setback to public health. In its formal response…

News Legislation

FIVE YEARS?! Pouch users in France could face jail time under new law

Nicotine pouch users in France could face jail time and six figure fines under a new law currently being reviewed by the European Commission. Under the new law, which would apply later this year, personal possession and use of nicotine pouches would…

News

Dutch government call for EU-wide flavour ban and plain packaging for vapes and pouches

The Dutch Health Minister has called for an EU-wide ban on vapes and pouches to be brought forward this year, in a letter to EU Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi seen by Clearing the Air and first scooped by EurActiv. The letter comes…

News

EU Ombudsman closes conflict of interest investigation into tobacco control NGO, but questions remain

The European Ombudsman has closed its investigation into the European Commission’s DG SANTE, which stood accused of hiring a biased contractor to help rewrite European law on safer nicotine products. The investigation followed a complaint lodged by Tobacco Europe - big tobacco’s…

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