Markets 
As part of its Tobacco Control Framework Evaluation, the European Commission reviewed current tobacco laws and found that, while older rules successfully lowered traditional cigarette consumption, they are nowcompletely outdated and failing to stop a massive surge in digital marketing and novel nicotine products.
As a result, the Commission proposed a revision of the Tobacco Taxation Directive (TTD) to implement fresh rules and curb tobacco use. It remains under negotiation after the Parliament failed to adopt a formal position in June 2026, leaving the final decision to the Council of the European Union, where unanimous agreement among member states is required.
Roughly one in four Europeans still smoke or use tobacco regularly. And the problem is increasingly urgent among young people, with data showing that over 11 percent of teens aged 13 to 15 now regularly consume tobacco or trendy nicotine alternatives like flavoured disposable vapes.
“The EU continues to experience roughly 700.000 tobacco-related deaths annually. It remains a leading preventable cause of cancer and cardiovascular disease. From a public health perspective, lower taxes effectively subsidise consumption of a product that kills up to half of long-term users when used as intended”, Professor Martin McKee, Strategic Advisor at the European Public Health Association, told Euronews.
Does the EU have a cigarette problem?
300 billion cigarettes are sold annually in the EU; 24 percent of Europeans smoke, with higher rates among men than women. This massive consumer market is sustained internally, as European factories manufacture more than 220 billion cigarettes each year to meet demand.
Who smokes the most? Eurostat shows ranges from just 8 percent in Sweden up to 37 percent in Bulgaria. Regional disparities are particularly visible among males, with nearly half of the men in Bulgaria (49 percent) and Latvia (48 percent) smoking regularly, compared to less than 10 percent in Sweden.
For women, the highest use is in Greece at 32 percent, while Sweden again reports the minimum at 8 percent. Southern and Eastern European nations consistently report the highest tobacco use, with Croatia and Greece keeping overall smoking rates above 35 percent. Western and Northern European countries like the Netherlands and Denmark have driven their use down to 11 percent and 14 percent respectively.
Smoking poses huge pressures on health sectors. Chronic exposure to tobacco and nicotine results in millions of avoidable hospital admissions every year for respiratory failure, stroke, and ischaemic heart disease. Treating these long-term cardiovascular and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases drains an estimated €25 billion annually directly from public healthcare budgets.
“Even a delay of a few years in major tobacco-control measures translates into millions of additional smokers, preventable diseases and deaths over time”, warned McKee.
The rise of vapes and IQOS
The peak of traditional tobacco consumption is among citizens aged 25 to 54. However, the market is shifting as younger generations pivot away from traditional cigarettes and towards other products.
These include e-cigarettes or vapes (which heat a liquid with nicotine and flavourings into an inhalable aerosol) and heated tobacco products, such as IQOS, which warm processed tobacco without burning it. Nicotine pouches deliver nicotine orally without containing tobacco leaf.
Health authorities consider these products less harmful than conventional cigarettes, but not risk-free. Studies by several health organisations identified potentially harmful substances, including formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and acrolein, while nicotine itself remains highly addictive. Public health experts also warn that nicotine exposure during adolescence can affect brain development and increase the risk of long-term dependence.
According to the World Health Organization, 11.6 percent of teens aged 13 to 15 in the European region use these products. “Marketing and product design are important drivers. Common features include flavours attractive to young consumers, heavy social-media promotion, lifestyle branding, claims that products are modern, cleaner or safer, and discreet designs that are easy to conceal”, said McKee.
The EU wants smokers to quit
The EU wants to create a “Tobacco-Free Generation” by 2040, where less than 5 percent of the population smokes. This is a cornerstone of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. But Brussels lacks the authority for a blanket ban on smoking, because health policy remains a sovereign right for states. Instead, the EU can use its fiscal and regulatory powers to dictate how tobacco is sold and promoted around the bloc.
Over the past decade, it implemented several landmark laws. The 2014 Tobacco Products Directive (TPD II) mandated graphic warnings covering 65 percent of packages and capped e-cigarette nicotine concentration at 20 mg/ml. The Tobacco Advertising Directive (2003) banned tobacco advertising, and the 2001/37/EC Directive completely banned misleading product descriptors like “light,” “mild,” or “low tar”, forcing manufacturers to write bold, black-and-white health warnings on all cigarette packs.
The Tobacco Control Framework Evaluation found these measures successful at lowering traditional smoking rates, which fell from 28 percent to 24 percent among adults. However, it warns that these older laws left gaping loopholes that allowed high-tech nicotine alternatives, like novel products, to thrive unregulated.
The new directive
The Commission’s proposed revision of the Tobacco Taxation Directive wants to make tobacco and nicotine products significantly more expensive by raising minimum duties across the EU. For example, it targets a dramatic 139 percent increase in minimum excise duties for standard cigarettes, instantly driving up the baseline retail price.
It also establishes mandatory EU-wide minimum excise taxes on vapes, heated tobacco, and nicotine pouches for the first time, and includes raw tobacco leaf in the EU’s electronic tracking system to shut down underground black markets and cross-border tax evasion.
The Commission presented the proposal in July 2025. In June 2026, however, the European Parliament rejected its own advisory report on the file after political groups from across the spectrum voted against a heavily amended compromise text. Because tax legislation follows the EU’s special legislative procedure, Parliament’s opinion is not binding. The proposal therefore remains under discussion in the Council of the European Union, where unanimous approval from all 27 member states is required before it can become law.
“Many people think the European Parliament is deciding the future excise tax rates. We’re not. We’re giving an opinion that is not legally binding on the Council”, said Patriots for Europe MEP Tomas Kubin, the report’s rapporteur.
Although the Parliament failed to adopt a formal position, the legislative process continues because taxation is decided by the Council under the EU’s consultation procedure.
In parallel, countries are implementing national bans within their own borders. Belgium became the first EU nation to outlaw the sale of disposable electronic cigarettes. France followed by passing its own single-usevape ban, alongside strict legislation that outlaws smoking in public parks, beaches, and school areas. The Netherlands has enforced one of Europe’s toughest flavour bans by completely prohibiting every vape liquid except for basic tobacco profiles, while simultaneously drafting laws to raise the legal nicotine purchase age from 18 to 21.
What could change if the directive is adopted
If adopted, the revised directive would place huge pressure on tobacco companies by targeting their profits. The industry remains an economic giant in Europe, with total annual sales reaching approximately €130 billion across the bloc. Companies like Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco would face a direct threat to their business models as the EU introduces these new minimum taxes.
Logistically, manufacturers will no longer be able to use novel products as low-tax loopholes to offset declining traditional cigarette revenues. Furthermore, including raw tobacco into the EU’s electronic tracking system will force companies to comply with strict supply chain audits, increasing their administrative and operational costs.
If the proposal is ultimately approved by all member states, European consumers would see significant changes in both the pricing and availability of nicotine products.
Public space restrictions are also tightening across several member states through separate national legislation. Belgium, France and the Netherlands have already introduced stricter rules on vaping and smoking in public places. If the revised TTD is eventually adopted, smokers across the EU would also face significantly higher prices for cigarettes and many alternative nicotine products.
Read the full article here
