The idea is to establish more strict legislation to discourage smoking. The proposal will now be examined by the EU Council and the European Parliament.
Le Monde with AFP
The European Commission proposed Wednesday, June 29, of prohibiting in the twenty-seven countries of the European Union (EU) the flavored versions of heated tobacco, a new type of product marketed in the form of sticks to compete with the electronic cigarettes in the twenty-seven-sized. . The proposal will now be examined by the EU Council and the European Parliament.
The text does not therefore concern electronic cigarettes and their liquids, said a spokesperson for the European executive, but aims at heated tobacco which, inhaled, is likely to be harmful to health.
In a Communicated , the European Health Commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, justified:
“Nine in ten lung cancers being caused by tobacco, we want to make smoking as unattractive as possible to protect the health of our citizens and save lives. To achieve it, it is essential to take more measures energetic to reduce tobacco consumption (…) and to monitor the pace of developments to deal with the incessant flow of new products that arrive on the market – which is particularly important to protect young people. “
Rising sales
The sale of tobacco products has been the subject of a European directive in 2014, which set the legislative framework on the territory of the Union, but the developments noted on this market authorize the Commission to modify this Frame.
Wednesday, the European executive notably highlighted the fact that the volume of sales of “heated tobacco products” increased by 10 % or more in at least five EU countries, the minimum required for harden the legislation.
According to the Commission, the sale of the latter type of product exploded in several member states between 2018 and 2020, especially in France (406 % increase), Portugal (180 %) or the Netherlands (153 %).