Brussels – The European Commission’s assessment of the tobacco control framework has sparked a debate among public health, industry, and the agricultural sector, highlighting just how polarised the issue has become. Brussels claims credit for the results achieved in recent years, with the number of smokers falling from 28 per cent to 24 per cent and a significant decrease in deaths, but it acknowledges that the current regulatory framework is no longer sufficient in the face of the spread of new nicotine-based products and digital marketing strategies. It is on this shared observation, however, that radically different interpretations are based.
“Serious concern over the lack of any assessment of the economic and employment implications,” particularly “for the agricultural sector”, has been expressed by Unitab, the European association of tobacco growers, led by Gennarino Masiello. The president also considers that “EU producer countries, with Italy at the forefront, are once again denouncing an approach they regard as harmful and contradictory to the European Union’s stated objectives regarding competitiveness, strategic autonomy, and rural development.” Therefore, Unitab reiterates “our position that, in the context of the ‘large-scale consultations’ announced by Commissioner Varhelyi, farmers and stakeholders in the agricultural sector must be consulted fully and genuinely, in line with the principles of evidence-based policy-making and social dialogue.” At the same time, it emphasises that “any future regulatory developments in this important sector must be preceded by adequate, comprehensive, and transparent impact assessments.”
Philip Morris International calls for greater recognition that “inclusive, evidence-based approaches are essential to promoting meaningful and effective regulatory progress and supporting a competitive, innovation-driven Europe.” As the EU assesses the future of tobacco regulation, “it is vital that policies reflect the full scope of scientific evidence and the voices of a wide range of stakeholders, including expert organisations, the private sector ecosystem and consumers,” the US company continues. Finally, the call to “encourage cigarette smokers to switch to better and smoke-free alternatives.”
According to Stefano Betti, an expert in international security and criminal policy, the report “does not fully reflect the complexity of the current tobacco and nicotine market” in the EU. According to Betti, the assessment fails to take into account illicit trade, which “receives relatively limited attention, despite available evidence suggesting that around one in ten cigarettes is illegal, the majority of vaping products move through unregulated channels, and that in some markets, illicit nicotine pouches may account for almost all consumption.” There is also limited attention paid to “a range of policy conditions that could encourage illicit trade, including restrictive regulatory approaches, very high taxation, plain packaging schemes in markets with particularly high levels of counterfeit branded products, and criminal penetration of online markets.”
Taking the opposite view is the Smoke Free Partnership, the broad European coalition of NGOs for a “smoke-free” future, for whom the starting point is clear: “The EU Commission is taking a necessary and welcome step”, but “the urgency of the situation requires swift and decisive action.” The organisation stresses that “the four-year delay has already been exploited by the industry”, warning that “further delays risk prolonging existing gaps and weakening the overall effectiveness of tobacco control in the EU.” The central issue remains that of young people: “They remain exposed to aggressive marketing and an increasingly diverse range of nicotine-based products”, whilst “regulation must evolve with the market”. Hence, the call for stricter rules on flavours, advertising, and product classification, with an explicit focus on preventing addiction.
Taking a similar line is Contre Feu, the anti-tobacco industry alliance, which sees the assessment as “confirmation that the current legislative framework is no longer suited to new nicotine-based products.” The organisation insists that “e-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and heated tobacco products pose a particular risk to young people and can act as a gateway to addiction.” The communication environment is also a cause for concern: “The industry’s online marketing practices exacerbate these risks,” while “existing rules on flavours, advertising, and labelling remain inadequate.” While describing the Commission’s publication as “an encouraging sign”, Contre Feu warns that the review is “long overdue, largely due to pressure from the industry to slow down the process,” and calls for “heightened vigilance regarding the sector’s growing influence in European negotiations.”
Amid these irreconcilable positions, the European Commission’s assessment marks only the start of a decisive phase. While everyone acknowledges that the market has changed and that the rules need updating, the question of how to do so remains entirely open: whether through strict regulation focused on public health and the protection of young people, or through an approach that better integrates market logic, harm reduction, and the protection of European supply chains. The review, expected by 2026, thus promises to be of fundamental importance for European health policy.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
