By Timothy s. Donahue

Top Takeaways:

• Regulatory pushback: Tobacco industry groups state that EU tobacco review does not meet Better Regulation standards.
• Illicit trade warning: The groups link stricter rules and taxes to a €14.9B illegal market and enforcement gaps.
• Harm reduction divide: Tobacco Europe states that real-world evidence on smokeless products was ignored.

Europe’s tobacco industry is pushing back hard against Brussels.

Tobacco Europe is now being joined by other industry voices pushing back against the European Commission’s evaluation of its tobacco and nicotine framework, a report that will shape the upcoming revision of the Tobacco Products Directive.

The Commission’s evaluation, published after more than three years of analysis, examines how current EU tobacco laws are working across member states. The process involved stakeholder consultations, scientific assessments, and economic analysis, aiming to guide future policy changes related to public health, taxation, product regulation, and enforcement.

But industry groups say the results are inadequate.

Tobacco Europe stated that the European Commission’s long-awaited evaluation of EU tobacco and nicotine legislation fails to meet Better Regulation standards and risks creating a framework that could damage public health, competitiveness, and security.

According to the industry group, the evaluation has “significant gaps” in its handling of real-world evidence, independent science, socioeconomic impacts, and stakeholder engagement—core pillars of the EU’s Better Regulation framework.

“This evaluation was an opportunity to take an honest, evidence-based look at what is working and what is falling short in EU tobacco regulation. Despite taking more than three years, this opportunity has been completely missed,” said Nathalie Darge.

The stakes are high. The EU tobacco and nicotine industry supports roughly 1.4 million jobs and brings in over €100 billion in tax revenue each year across the bloc, while serving more than 100 million adult consumers.

Tobacco Europe argues that the Commission’s assessment does not accurately reflect real-world results in several member states, highlighting declining smoking rates in countries such as Sweden, Czechia, and Greece, along with an increasing amount of independent research supporting the use of smokeless products for harm reduction.

At the same time, the group stated that enforcement challenges related to illicit trade are mostly overlooked. It referenced estimates that illegal tobacco cost EU governments €14.9 billion in lost revenue in 2024, warning that increasing restrictions and taxes could speed up black market activity.

“There is a direct link between extreme regulation and taxation and the size of illegal markets,” Darge said, pointing to markets such as Belgium and the Netherlands as examples where stricter policies have coincided with increased illicit activity.

The criticism also targets the process itself. During the Commission’s 2023 public consultation, about 77% of 24,000 respondents said smokeless products help adults quit cigarettes. Tobacco Europe stated that this feedback, along with its own submissions, is not meaningfully reflected in the final evaluation.

Now, Heated Community Hub is raising similar concerns—specifically around how next-generation products are treated. The group said the Commission’s evaluation is “heavily unbalanced,” focusing primarily on potential risks associated with alternatives like heated tobacco while failing to adequately consider reduced-risk potential or the experiences of adult consumers who have switched away from cigarettes.

Francesco Luongo warned that such an approach could undermine the EU’s broader public health ambitions. He pointed to the bloc’s “Tobacco-Free Generation” target—reducing tobacco use to below 5% by 2040—and argued that overly restrictive policies on alternatives risk slowing progress.

Sweden remains a focal point in that debate. The country’s daily smoking rate fell to roughly 5.3% in 2024, compared with an EU average near 24%, a gap frequently cited by harm-reduction advocates as evidence of the role of non-combustible products.

Luongo said a more pragmatic regulatory approach is needed to avoid unintended consequences, including pushing former smokers back toward combustible products or expanding illicit trade channels.

That concern mirrors broader industry warnings that aggressive regulation and taxation can shift demand into unregulated markets, complicating enforcement for authorities across the bloc.

The Commission’s findings and the industry’s response set the stage for what is likely to be a heated revision of the Tobacco Products Directive, as policymakers balance public health priorities with market trends, enforcement challenges, and the role of next-generation nicotine products.