“On tobacco, it might be just too early to give you a precise timing but as I told you, as an indication, next year is going to be, I think, the peak of our work”, declared Olivér Várhelyi, European Commissioner for Health, on Tuesday 2 December, after the meeting of European health ministers.
Sophie Løhde, the Danish Minister for Health, told the press conference that, during lunch, “we had an informal discussion on tobacco and nicotine and how we can better protect children and young people”. She spoke of the growing challenges posed by “the growing use of tobacco and nicotine products, many of which actively target children and young people, products that pose a serious health risk”.
She added that “we cannot just stand and let this happen. We are already late in responding. We therefore need the Commission to be brave and to deliver a tobacco directive that can help the member states address the real challenges we are facing”.
Olivér Várhelyi confirmed that “all the ministers are extremely concerned about the emergence of this new generation of tobacco and nicotine products, and the impact of them on the society, especially on the young generation” (see EUROPE 13718/8). “We will have to take action”, stressed the Commissioner.
The Commission is already conducting a study and reviewing existing legislation. At the same time, it has proposed, as part of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028-2034, to increase excise duties on these products to the same level as conventional tobacco products, given that they represent, according to its assessment, the same danger as conventional products (see EUROPE 13728/15).
The Commission is also planning an action plan on cardiovascular health, because cardiovascular health and the consumption of tobacco and nicotine-based products “are closely linked”, said the Commissioner. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)