{"id":449680,"date":"2026-04-07T15:38:49","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T13:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/04\/07\/la-stretta-ue-sul-tabacco-divide-incoraggiante-per-alcune-sigle-rischiosa-per-leconomia-per-altre\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T18:03:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T16:03:48","slug":"the-eus-crackdown-on-tobacco-is-dividing-opinion-encouraging-for-some-but-a-risk-to-the-economy-for-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/04\/07\/the-eus-crackdown-on-tobacco-is-dividing-opinion-encouraging-for-some-but-a-risk-to-the-economy-for-others\/","title":{"rendered":"The EU\u2019s crackdown on tobacco is dividing opinion: encouraging for some, but a risk to the economy for others"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels –\u00a0The\u00a0European Commission’s\u00a0<\/strong>assessment<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0of the tobacco control<\/strong>\u00a0framework<\/strong>\u00a0has sparked a debate among<\/span>\u00a0public health, industry, and the agricultural sector<\/b>, highlighting just how polarised the issue has become. Brussels claims credit for the results achieved<\/a>\u00a0in recent years, with the number of smokers falling from 28 per cent to 24 per cent<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

“Serious concern over the lack of any assessment of the economic and employment implications,” particularly “for the agricultural sector”, has been expressed by Unitab<\/strong>, the European association of tobacco growers<\/strong>, led by Gennarino Masiello. The president also considers that \u201cEU producer countries, with Italy at the forefront, are once again denouncing an approach they regard as harmful and contradictory to the European Union\u2019s stated objectives regarding competitiveness, strategic autonomy, and rural development.\u201d Therefore, Unitab reiterates \u201cour position that, in the context of the \u2018large-scale consultations\u2019 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.\u201d At the same time, it emphasises that \u201cany future regulatory developments in this important sector must be preceded by adequate, comprehensive, and transparent impact assessments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Philip Morris International<\/strong> calls for greater recognition that “inclusive, evidence-based approaches are essential to promoting meaningful and effective regulatory progress<\/strong> and supporting a competitive, innovation-driven Europe.” As the EU assesses the future of tobacco regulation, \u201cit is vital that policies reflect the full scope of scientific evidence<\/strong> and the voices of a wide range of stakeholders, including expert organisations, the private sector ecosystem and consumers,\u201d the US company continues. Finally, the call to “encourage cigarette smokers to switch<\/strong> to<\/strong> better<\/strong> and smoke-free alternatives.”<\/p>\n

According to Stefano Betti<\/strong>, an expert in international security and criminal policy, the report “does not fully reflect the complexity of the current tobacco and nicotine market<\/strong>” in the EU. According to Betti, the assessment fails to take into account illicit trade, which \u201creceives relatively limited attention<\/strong>, despite available evidence suggesting that around one in ten cigarettes is illegal<\/a>, the majority of vaping products move through unregulated channels, and that in some markets, illicit nicotine pouches may account for almost all consumption.\u201d There is also limited attention paid to \u201ca range of policy conditions<\/strong> that could encourage illicit trade<\/strong>, 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking the opposite view is the Smoke Free Partnership, <\/strong><\/a>the broad European coalition of NGOs for a “smoke-free” future, for whom the starting point is clear: \u201cThe EU Commission is taking a necessary and welcome<\/strong> step\u201d, but \u201cthe urgency of the situation requires swift and decisive action.\u201d The organisation stresses that \u201cthe four-year delay<\/strong> has already been exploited by the industry\u201d, warning that \u201cfurther delays risk prolonging existing gaps and weakening the overall effectiveness of tobacco control in the EU.\u201d The central issue remains that of young people: \u201cThey remain exposed to aggressive marketing and an increasingly diverse range of nicotine-based products\u201d, whilst \u201cregulation must evolve with the market\u201d. Hence, the call for stricter rules on flavours, advertising, and product classification, with an explicit focus on preventing addiction.<\/p>\n

Taking a similar line is Contre Feu<\/a>, the anti-tobacco industry alliance, which sees the assessment as “confirmation that the current legislative framework is no longer suited<\/strong> to new nicotine-based products.” The organisation insists that \u201ce-cigarettes, nicotine pouches, and heated tobacco products pose a particular risk to young people and can act as a gateway to addiction.\u201d The communication environment is also a cause for concern: \u201cThe industry\u2019s online marketing practices exacerbate these risks,\u201d while \u201cexisting rules on flavours, advertising, and labelling remain inadequate.\u201d While describing the Commission\u2019s publication as \u201can encouraging sign<\/strong>\u201d, Contre Feu warns that the review is \u201clong overdue, largely due to pressure from the industry to slow down the process,\u201d and calls for \u201cheightened vigilance regarding the sector\u2019s growing influence in European negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amid these irreconcilable positions, the European Commission\u2019s assessment marks only the start of a decisive phase<\/strong>. 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 <\/strong>focused on public health and the protection of young people, or through an approach that better integrates market logic<\/strong>, 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The European Commission\u2019s assessment of the European tobacco control framework has sparked debate among stakeholders: while everyone acknowledges that the market has changed and that the rules need updating, the question of how to go about it remains unanswered<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7896,"featured_media":449657,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[30961],"tags":[28974,33693,28973,32081,33694,29011,33394,33695,33655],"class_list":["post-449680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-salute-en","tag-cigarettesand","tag-contre-feu","tag-philip-morris-en","tag-smoke-free-en","tag-smoke-free-partnership","tag-tabacco-en","tag-ue","tag-unitab","tag-valutazione"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7896"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449680"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":449693,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449680\/revisions\/449693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}