The Netherlands, supported by 11 other Member States (Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia and Spain), wrote a letter on 21 March to the European Commissioner for Health, Olivér Várhelyi, asking him to present a proposal in 2025 to amend the 2014 directive on the manufacture and sale of tobacco products.
Following the informal meeting of European health ministers on disease prevention (see other news), Polish Health Minister Izabela Leszczyna said in Warsaw on Tuesday 25 March: “We shared our experiences and the ministers were very open about revising the tobacco directive, which I’m very pleased about, and I’m sure we’ll succeed”.
She pointed out that the last amendment of the directive was to ban certain flavourings in heated cigarettes. “In the meantime, unfortunately, e-cigarettes have become more widespread”. Poland has notified the Commission of the legal act aimed at prohibiting at national level the sale of these tobacco-free cigarettes to children under the age of 18. “I hope that the Danish Presidency of the Council will be able to tackle this issue”, concluded Izabela Leszczyna.
The letter from the Netherlands, as seen by Agence Europe, lists three issues to be resolved:
- growing use of new nicotine-based products among young people (e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches): “It is crucial that the Commission create future-proof legislation to regulate all nicotine products”, the letter states. The aim would be to reduce the appeal of e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches through “restrictions on flavours, maximum nicotine levels and plain packaging”. In addition, tools should be included to allow product bans throughout the EU;
- cross-border distance selling: the Commission is invited to “effectively address the challenges and problems associated with cross-border distance selling within EU Member States”;
- social media platforms: according to the letter, these platforms should assume greater responsibility and be held accountable for the marketing and sales of tobacco and nicotine products on their platforms. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)