{"id":451474,"date":"2026-04-27T11:57:48","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T09:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/04\/27\/tabacco-philip-morris-accetta-regolamentazioni-ue-ma-chiede-buon-senso\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T12:47:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T10:47:56","slug":"tobacco-philipmorris-commonsense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/04\/27\/tobacco-philipmorris-commonsense\/","title":{"rendered":"Tobacco: Philip Morris accepts EU regulations but urges “common sense”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Delphi,\u00a0by our correspondent\u00a0<\/em>– Amid the increasingly heated debate over the future of European tobacco policy, the industry is attempting to make its voice heard, adopting a tone intended to legitimise\u00a0its role in the dialogue. Speaking is\u00a0Christos Harpantidis<\/span><\/span><\/strong>,\u00a0Vice-President of Philip Morris International for European Affairs,<\/strong>\u00a0at the eleventh edition of the Delphi Economic Forum, who starts from a clear position: \u201cWe are in favour of regulation, both on the fiscal front and in general,\u201d says Harpantidis, reiterating a\u00a0double yes to the two revisions of key directives under discussion.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cSo, yes to the TED, yes to the TPD, but with common sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is precisely this phrase, \u201ccommon sense\u201d, that recurs several times throughout the interview. For Harpantidis, in fact, the issue is not regulation itself, but how it is implemented. \u201cSomeone needs to analyse the problem, understand what the real issue is, and\u00a0not lump everything together.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

The key point, he insists, is\u00a0differentiation<\/strong>. “Understanding the problem, identifying the available solutions, and taking the appropriate measures.” According to the manager, several European countries are already moving in this direction, treating the alternatives “correctly” and distinguishing “categories based on their impact on health.” An approach that is still lacking in some European proposals, particularly in the early stages of the\u00a0revision of the Tobacco Taxation Directive<\/a>, which are deemed “abnormal,<\/strong>” lacking in “common sense” and without “scientific evidence to support them.”<\/p>\n

The criticism becomes more pointed when the discussion turns to\u00a0the European Commission’s assessment<\/a>. “Unfortunately,\u00a0it is not a good report<\/a>,<\/strong>” he said bluntly, referring to\u00a0the Revision of the Tobacco Products Directive<\/a>. “There is a complete lack of economic impact,<\/strong>” and “there is a lack of important scientific evidence.<\/strong>”\u00a0Additionally, “they are also ignoring third-party science that does not fit the narrative they wish to promote.” A situation that “risks compromising the quality of public policy.”<\/p>\n

According to Harpantidis, one of the most serious omissions\u00a0is\u00a0illegal trade<\/a><\/strong>. “In such serious policies, illicit trade, as it is a major problem in Europe,\u00a0should be taken into account<\/strong>“, he insists, emphasising how the phenomenon also has direct implications for minors. “The report overlooks significant aspects of today\u2019s reality and should be reassessed,” he adds. “This is a real problem affecting almost all European countries, with effects ranging from tax revenue to consumer safety,” he explains.<\/p>\n

Politically, the future of the excise duty directive remains uncertain, amid\u00a0national resistance and conflicting interests<\/strong>. Yet Harpantidis retains some\u00a0confidence in the European system. \u201cThis is the EU: where there\u2019s a will, there\u2019s a way,\u201d and \u201cwhen the parties want to end a battle, they find a way to do so.\u201d The differences between countries, from Sweden to Luxembourg, \u201care understandable,\u201d he notes, but \u201cit is the task of the presidency and the Commission to find a way to overcome this obstacle.\u201d<\/p>\n

The discussion then moves on to a broader issue: that of\u00a0European competitiveness<\/strong>. Here, the assessment is harsher. “We have gone too far,” he says, referring to regulations. \u201cWe are too slow and are clearly losing competitiveness,” in a situation where \u201cthe figures are clear,\u201d and<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cno one can dispute them.<\/strong>\u201d The accumulation of regulations has become a real problem, with \u201cfifteen directives<\/strong>\u201d directly affecting the sector, in addition to national legislation.<\/p>\n

According to Harpantidis, there is a need for some soul-searching within European institutions. “Europe should not only demand structural changes from Member States,” but also “assess what structural changes are necessary for the Commission itself.<\/strong>” Above all, “it needs a plan to explain to citizens” how to become competitive “in the new era,” he explains.<\/p>\n

Then there is the most sensitive issue: the\u00a0relationship between institutions and the tobacco industry<\/strong>. The term “criminalisation” is mentioned, but with caution. \u201cIt\u2019s a strong expression; I wouldn\u2019t want to use it, but I understand its meaning,\u201d he admits. \u201cI travel the world and meet prime ministers and ministers\u2026 but\u00a0I can\u2019t speak to a European Commission official<\/strong>,\u201d he says. A situation he describes as \u201ca legacy of the past\u201d and one that \u201cdoesn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n

The message is clear: “We need to launch a serious, truly serious discussion.<\/strong>”\u00a0According to Harpantidis, the European challenge is not only regulatory, but also cultural and political. And it inevitably requires a more open dialogue between institutions and industry, in a context that remains one of the most complex and heavily regulated in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Interview with Christos Harpantidis, Vice-President for European Affairs at Philip Morris International: “Europe should not only demand structural changes from Member States,” but also “consider what structural changes are needed within the Commission itself”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7896,"featured_media":451463,"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":[],"class_list":["post-451474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-salute-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451474","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=451474"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":451479,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451474\/revisions\/451479"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}