Back from recess, the debate over novel nicotine products is far from over

EU policymakers have returned to work after the summer recess with debate still raging on at least one familiar dossier.

It concerns a planned major shake-up of EU-wide tobacco legislation and, in particular, the role played by non-combustible nicotine products. These include devices such as nicotine pouches and e-cigarettes.

In fact, debate has continued over the summer, albeit at a slightly less heated temperature, ever since the  European Commission, in April, presented its keenly-awaited evaluation report on revision of the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD).

It is worth recalling that the EU’s overall tobacco package consists of two files: a revision of the EU tobacco taxation directive and a revision of the general arrangements for excise goods in respect of tobacco and tobacco-related products.

To get a grip on why this issue, in particular, has caused such a stir it is useful to consider the stark statistics surrounding tobacco consumption.

There are about 94 million adult smokers across Europe and reducing the staggering 700,000 tobacco-related deaths recorded across the EU every year remains a real objective for the bloc.

At the same time, the Commission is about to reshape the rules for products used by over 30 million European adults who have switched away from cigarettes. And this is what creates a lot of noise in Brussels and in member states.

The sector is also economically significant: industry figures put it at nearly 1.45 million jobs and over €107 billion in annual tax revenue.

What is the debate about

After a highly scrutinised review process that lasted more than 3 years, the Commission published its Evaluation report on Tobacco Products Directive (TPD2) in April this year.  The Commission will use the evaluation as part of its review of existing law, the result of which is expected later this year just in time for Christmas holidays according to rumours in Brussels

The evaluation has sparked yet more debate with some saying the EU is not giving due credit to the role played by novel nicotine products in encouraging smokers to switch and give up smoking.

Failure to do so, it is argued, risks failing to meet the EU’s goal of ensuring that less than 5 per cent of the population use tobacco by the year 2040.

A European Commission source told this site, “Commission evaluations assess the performance of existing policies, programmes and legislation to judge how well they have performed or are working.

“The Commission undertook the evaluation of the Tobacco Products Directive 2014/40/EU and the Tobacco Advertising Directive 2003/33/EC, to assess their effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and EU added value in protecting public health and the smooth functioning of the internal market.”

The source added, “The evaluation was launched in the context of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP). The plan calls for the creation of a “Tobacco-Free Generation”, where less than 5% of the population uses tobacco by 2040.

“On 2 April 2026, the Commission published its Staff Working Document on the evaluation.

“The evaluation found that the EU rules on tobacco control have contributed to a significant decline in smoking and tobacco-related deaths across the EU, as well as supporting the internal market. At the same time, the evaluation highlights growing challenges linked to the rapid emergence of novel tobacco and nicotine products, particularly among young people,” said the source.

Not everyone is convinced.

British American Tobacco, claims the evaluation “relies on incomplete evidence, fails to assess smokeless products properly against cigarettes, and repeats claims widely rejected by scientists.”

It says “record numbers” of adult smokers have switched to vapour products and believes “smart regulation” of vapour, nicotine pouch and heated tobacco products can advance public health.

When the Evaluation Report was published, Fabio de Petris, Vice President EU External Affairs at BAT, alleges the evaluation raises “serious doubts about whether the Commission is following the evidence or is simply justifying a pre-determined agenda that will set back progress toward a smoke-free EU.”

And they are not alone. The consumers associations have also raised doubts on the evaluation report.

Alberto Gómez Hernández, Policy Manager at the World Vapers’ Alliance, commented on the report: ”This report is blatantly biased, burying scientific evidence on less harmful alternatives that actually work. A TPD update based on this report will prevent millions of smokers from switching to less harmful options and fuel explosive growth in illegal black markets.”

Advocates of a more evidence-based policy see a further “important addition” in August’s review by the Cochrane Collaboration. It concluded that smokers who want to quit have the best chance of doing so with nicotine e-cigarettes. Adults using them were up to 67% more likely to quit for at least six months than those using traditional nicotine replacement therapy.

Lead author Dr Nicola Lindson of the University of Oxford said: “Although nicotine vapes are unlikely to be completely risk free, they are less harmful than smoking and that is the most important comparison to make for people who are still smoking tobacco.”

The picture is not one-sided, however. A report last month in Nature Reviews Cardiology concluded that all nicotine-containing products (cigarettes, e-cigarettes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches) are harmful to cardiovascular health, though not equally so. Its lead author called for a coherent, nicotine-based regulatory framework to replace the current “patchwork of product-specific rules.”

Smoke Free Sweden goes further, arguing that the consultation questionnaire was “structurally biased against tobacco harm reduction” because it treated cigarettes and safer smoke-free alternatives as though they carried the same level of risk. Its leader, Dr Delon Human, says: “The revised TPD presents Europe with a choice. It can follow the evidence and extend Sweden’s success across the continent, or it can impose indiscriminate restrictions that leave cigarettes, the deadliest product, as the most accessible and satisfying nicotine option.” Supporters of this view point to Eurobarometer data suggesting that countries pairing smart regulation of smokeless products with strict cigarette rules, such as Sweden, have cut smoking far faster than the rest of the EU.

European Parliament weighs in

The issue was most recently thrown into the spotlight when the  European Parliament voted on the new EU cardiovascular diseases strategy.

Cardiovascular diseases kill 1.7 million people every year and is Europe’s leading cause of death  though many deaths and serious complications could be prevented through earlier detection and timely treatment.

Sixty-two million people are living with the burden of CVDs in the EU, and close to 13 million new cases of CVDs occur every year but an estimated 80% of them, including heart disease and stroke, is preventable.

Smoking is a significant preventable contributor to cardiovascular disease and a report overwhelmingly adopted by MEPs supports measures aimed at reducing smoking and preventing young people from beginning to use tobacco and nicotine products.

It is also accepted that different nicotine products may have differentiated risk profiles, rather than automatically treating every tobacco and nicotine product as presenting an identical risk.

Some now ask if this puts the Parliament on a possible “collision course” with the Commission  when it comes to revision of the TPD. The coming weeks will shed further light on that question.

So, with MEPs and EU law makers barely back behind their desks after the summer break, the heated debate about future tobacco rules continues to rage.

There has been a welcome decline in cigarette use but the burning question remains: what is the role for novel nicotine products?