The Member States’ ambassadors to the European Union (Coreper) decided on Wednesday 28 September not to oppose the legislative proposal amending the Tobacco Directive (see EU/2014/40) to remove exemptions for certain flavoured and heated tobacco products (see EUROPE 12982/14).
The Council of the EU initially had two months to raise objections after the notification from the European Commission, which was until 30 August. Several delegations had asked for more time to analyse the proposal. The deadline was therefore extended to 29 October.
At the preparatory meeting on 21 September, four Member States – Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Bulgaria – indicated that they would issue a joint statement outlining the impact of the decision on the heated tobacco sector. However, there was no qualified majority of Member States to oppose the European Commission’s proposal.
The delegated act will be deemed adopted if the European Parliament does not raise an objection.
Link to the European Commission’s proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/3ak
Link to the joint statement: https://aeur.eu/f/3aj (Original version in French by Emilie Vanderhulst)