The European Parliament’s lead legislator on the EU’s plans to levy higher taxes on safer nicotine products has shocked vapers by proposing to increase taxes on vapes in his report on the Commission’s plans to amend Europe’s tobacco and nicotine taxes.
While the Commission’s proposal levied a tax of 0.12c/ml or 20% on eliquids with less than 15mg/ml nicotine and 0.36c/ml or 40% on liquids with more, Tomas Kubin, the Czech MEP leading the review in the Parliament, has proposed that the higher rate be applied to all vapes regardless of whether or not they contain nicotine.
Kubin also singles out vapes for their appeal to young people in justifying his harsh new measures, indicating that he might be willing to “trade” harsher policies on vapes for less stringent rules on other safer products when the EU revises its tobacco frameworks later this year.
The key changes Kubin proposes are:
Heated tobacco – the Commission proposed 55% with either EUR 108/1,000 items or EUR 155/kg. The report cuts the ad valorem and per-item legs to 40% and EUR 80/1,000 items, but it raises the per-kilogram leg sharply to EUR 260/kg.
Nicotine pouches – the Commission proposed a transitional stage from 2030 at 25% or EUR 71.5/kg, followed by 50% or EUR 143/kg from 2032. The report lowers and delays that, proposing 20% or EUR 57/kg from 2030 and 35% or EUR 100/kg from 2033.
Kubin is Czech and a member of the far-right “Patriots for Europe” group, both of which had been seen as open to harm reduction. Brussels sources were disappointed with the report.
“We are surprised that the rapporteur did not go any further in his report” one industry source told Clearing the Air on condition of anonymity. “He acknowledges that products that are less harmful should be taxed lower but he hasn’t reflected this principle sufficiently in the proposed rates.”
Indeed, Kubin does note in his report that one factor in determining the relevant rate of tax for nicotine products should be the health risk they pose, but this principle does not seem to have been applied to vaping.
Another anonymous industry source was more blunt: “Heated tobacco is the big winner here”, they told Clearing the Air. PMI’s iQOS is the market leader in the heated tobacco category.
Consumers we spoke to were furious that neither they nor the independent industry met the rapporteur, who only disclosed having met Tobacco Europe (Big Tobacco’s trade body), the European Cigar Manufacturers Association, the European Commission and anti-nicotine NGO the Smoke Free Partnership.
“Kubin only seems to have met big tobacco and the temperance movement”, one consumer advocate told us, adding that they had reached out for a meeting and were awaiting a response.
The report also lowers minimum rates for cigarettes, rolling tobacco, cigars and waterpipe tobacco.
