Consumers urge Sweden to veto EU Tobacco Tax

Nine organisations representing users of safer nicotine products have called on the Swedish Government to veto Brussels plans to impose huge tax increases on vapes and nicotine pouches, calling the plans “fundamentally flawed” and “a direct threat to the Swedish Model”.

The letter follows the latest proposal put to EU countries, revealed on Clearing the Air, which would lead to huge tax increases for users of safer nicotine products in almost all EU Member States. You can calculate the impact the Commission’s original proposal will have on your finances using our calculator.

“Instead of promoting public health, it [the proposal] prioritises revenue collection by treating less harmful nicotine alternatives nearly identically to cigarettes” the letter argues. “The Council’s draft explicitly aims to “discourage tax-induced substitution”—a policy that effectively protects cigarettes by removing the economic incentive for smokers to switch to less harmful alternatives”.

Sweden has the lowest smoking rates of any EU country at 5.4%, a success that the government attributes to the longstanding availability of safer nicotine products.

“For Sweden, this directive is not just bad policy; it is a direct attack on your national success story”,

the letter continues. “The compromise text proposes a minimum excise duty of 107 € per kilogram on nicotine pouches. This is disproportionately high and ignores the fact that these combustion-free products are the primary reason Sweden has the lowest smoking rates and the lowest tobacco-related mortality in the European Union”.

EU countries will debate the latest proposal on Wednesday of this week.

The full letter and list of signatory organisations can be found below:

Open Letter to the Government of Sweden

Urgent Call to Veto the EU Council’s Compromise on the Tobacco Excise Directive

To the Government of Sweden,

We, the undersigned consumer organisations representing thousands of citizens across Europe, urge the Swedish government to reject and, if needed, veto the current compromise text of the EU Tobacco Excise Directive (TED).

The proposal currently on the table in the Council Working Group on Tax Questions is fundamentally flawed. Instead of promoting public health, it prioritises revenue collection by treating less harmful nicotine alternatives nearly identically to cigarettes. The Council’s draft explicitly aims to “discourage tax-induced substitution”—a policy that effectively protects cigarettes by removing the economic incentive for smokers to switch to less harmful alternatives.

A Direct Threat to the Swedish Model

For Sweden, this directive is not just bad policy; it is a direct attack on your national success story. The compromise text proposes a minimum excise duty of 107 € per kilogram on nicotine pouches. This is disproportionately high and ignores the fact that these combustion-free products are the primary reason Sweden has the lowest smoking rates (5.4%) and the lowest tobacco-related mortality in the European Union.

Accepting this directive would force Sweden to abandon the very tax structure that has saved thousands of lives. It would penalise the safest nicotine products on the market, driving consumers back to smoking or toward the black market, and dismantling the “Swedish Experience” that the rest of Europe should be emulating, not destroying.

Punishing Harm Reduction

The proposal also threatens vapers with a flat rate of €0.30/ml on e-liquids. While simplified, this tax remains a punitive barrier for the most vulnerable smokers who rely on affordable alternatives to quit. It would even apply to non-nicotine-containing liquids. Economic evidence clearly shows that when taxes on less harmful products rise, smoking rates increase — particularly among young users.

The Call to Action

Sweden is the only EU country on track to become smoke-free. You have the moral authority and the evidence to lead this debate. We ask you to:

Veto the current Council compromise. Do not accept a framework that punishes harm reduction.
Demand risk-based differentiation. Taxes must reflect the profound difference in risk between combustible cigarettes and non-combustible alternatives like pouches and vapes.
Protect Swedish Sovereignty. Reject harmonisation attempts that would force Sweden to hike prices on pouches, thereby undermining your successful public health strategy.

If this directive passes, illicit markets will expand, and the decline in smoking rates across Europe will stall.

Consumers have already seen how their voices are sidelined in EU debates on tobacco and nicotine. Investigations have shown how some organisations misrepresent ordinary people who use less harmful products, while institutions ignore consultation results that oppose higher taxes on these products. In this context, leadership from national governments is essential.

Therefore, we urge you to stand firm against this proposal for science, for public health, and for the consumers who rely on these products to stay off cigarettes.

Sincerely,

APORVAP (Portugal)