At the EU ‘Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs’ Council on 21 June in Luxembourg, a group of Member States (led by Latvia, Cyprus, Estonia, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain) will be calling for action at EU level to protect young people from the harm caused by novel tobacco and nicotine products.
In a document (https://aeur.eu/f/ck2 ), this group of countries expresses concern about the widespread popularity of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) among young people. According to Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC), e-cigarettes have overtaken conventional cigarettes in popularity, with 32% of 15-year-olds surveyed reporting e-cigarette use at some point and 20% in the past 30 days.
In view of the persistent disparities between Member States regarding the regulation of flavourings and flavouring agents in liquid e-cigarettes and cross-border distance selling, there is a need, according to these 10 countries, for developing further common regulation at EU level. Such rules would increase “health protection for EU citizens, especially our youth”, they argue. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)