By Kathryn Kranhold and Jason McLure of The Examination and Rory O’Neill and Antonia Zimmermann of POLITICO. This article was reported in collaboration with The Examination, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates global health threats. BRUSSELS — When the world’s largest tobacco company needed help lifting international restrictions on its products, it enlisted an unlikely ally: the European Union, a leader in tobacco control.  EU officials met with Philip Morris International representatives at least six times from September 2022 through 2024, according to documents released through public records requests. The tobacco giant’s agenda: Enlist EU officials’ help in loosening restrictions or setting favorable tax rates on its products — including IQOS, a heated tobacco device key to the company’s future — in 10 countries outside the EU. Officials with the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, took action at least three times that would have benefitted the company, The Examination and POLITICO found. They published a notice saying Mexico’s ban on new nicotine products was a possible barrier to free trade. They asked Turkish officials whether they planned to maintain the country’s requirement that cigarettes contain a minimum amount of local tobacco. And in a high-level report for EU officials, they flagged that rule and Turkey’s cigarette tax rate as issues that could affect ties between it and the EU.  The Commission’s actions regarding Turkey were “of great help for us,” a PMI representative wrote to staffers at the Commission. “We would like to express our gratitude in regard of (sic) the actions that you took.”  A Philip Morris International representative thanked European Commission trade officials for flagging Turkey’s cigarette tax and a rule on domestic tobacco as possible trade issues. (Redactions by the European Commission. Highlighting by The Examination) The revelations, contained in documents released through public information requests by the French anti-tobacco group Contre-Feu, raise questions about whether the EU breached its commitment to a global treaty to combat smoking signed by the EU and member countries. Guidelines to implement that treaty — the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) — say that when setting and implementing public health policies, governments should restrict their dealings with the tobacco industry and disclose any meetings whenever possible. None of the meetings with PMI or other industry groups cited in the documents were disclosed, according to The Examination and POLITICO’s review of the EU’s disclosure websites. The “fact that EU officials acted upon PMI’s requests signals a troubling willingness to give the tobacco industry privileged access. That is precisely what the FCTC was designed to prevent,” said Tilly Metz, a member of the European Parliament with the Greens. “It undermines both public trust and the EU’s credibility as a global leader in tobacco control.” A spokesperson for the European Commission told The Examination and POLITICO  that it “strictly follows” the treaty guidelines. But tobacco products are covered by EU trade policy, and the Commission can negotiate tariffs and trade rules, the spokesperson said.  “The Commission does not shape, influence or lobby for specific health policies in third countries on behalf of any industry,” the spokesperson said.  While industry associations and companies can share concerns on market access in non-EU countries with the Commission, and the Commission may meet with complainants to get more information, the spokesperson said such meetings are “strictly related to trade facilitation and market access.” European parliamentarians appeared divided over whether the dealings were improper.  Vytenis Andriukaitis with the Socialists and Democrats and a former EU health commissioner said the European Commission “cannot represent the interests of tobacco companies,” nor “press other countries to weaken” their tobacco controls. Barry Andrews, a member of the centrist Renew Europe Group, said: “These regular meetings with big tobacco lobbyists and the flurry of emails should not have happened.” By contrast, Stine Bosse, a member of the same political group, said: “The tobacco industry has every right to employ lobbyists.” However, Bosse added: “Morally, I stand in a very different place. While they constantly try to reinvent new products to get people hooked on nicotine and tobacco, I am fighting for precisely the opposite.”  Philip Morris International did not answer questions from The Examination and POLITICO about its dealing with EU officials. On its website, the company said it shares its perspectives with policymakers and it is “particularly active with respect to policies regarding less harmful alternatives to cigarettes, trade and fiscal matters, and intellectual property.” (The company is separate from Philip Morris USA, which is part of Altria Group.) The Examination and POLITICO have not found evidence that any of the 10 countries targeted by PMI altered their tobacco taxes or regulations following meetings with EU officials, including where the EU took action with regard to Mexico and Turkey. Most of PMI’s entreaties focused on IQOS, which it says is better than cigarettes because heating tobacco releases fewer toxins than burning it. Public health experts say the long-term risks of heated tobacco are unknown and products like IQOS could increase tobacco use. IQOS devices with heated tobacco sticks. Philip Morris International says IQOS is better than cigarettes because heating tobacco releases fewer toxins than burning it. Public health experts say the long-term risks of heated tobacco are unknown. | Roberto Pfeil/picture alliance via Getty Images Public health advocates said Commission officials’ actions were especially surprising because the EU has been one of the strongest supporters of the FCTC.  This year, the Commission proposed hiking EU-wide taxes on most tobacco products and setting minimum taxes for vapes and heated tobacco for the first time. Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi has pledged to drive e-cigarette taxes even higher; his tax counterpart, Wopke Hoekstra, has called vapes the “revenge of the tobacco industry.” The countries that PMI sought help with were outside the EU. Nearly all of them — Argentina, Brazil, India, Mexico, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam — had banned heated tobacco. Taiwan had what PMI described as a burdensome approval process. Japanese leaders were in discussions to raise taxes on heated tobacco to the same rate as cigarettes. Philip Morris International asked for the EU’s help in loosening restrictions or setting favorable tax rates on its IQOS product in 10 countries outside the EU. (Redactions by the European Commission. Highlighting by The Examination) PMI officials wanted people in those countries to be able to buy IQOS as easily as cigarettes. The company calls IQOS part of its “dream team” of alternative nicotine products, including e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches, that are meant to offset declining cigarette consumption.  So the company sought help in the EU’s distinctive 15-story glass trade building, the Charlemagne, in Brussels. PMI SEEKS HELP IN MEXICO Mexico was the first country that PMI sought help with, according to the documents. That country was a key market for IQOS, but a ban on vapes and heated tobacco was set to go into effect in December 2022.  In an investor meeting on Sept. 6, 2022, an analyst asked about IQOS’ “lack of success” in the Americas. Emmanuel Babeau, the company’s chief financial officer, blamed “some restrictions” in Mexico but said, “it’s going to be a very successful market for IQOS once we can really sell the device really without any issue.” That same day, company staff had an online meeting with EU officials to discuss the ban. It was one of several discussions about Mexico. After the ban went into effect, PMI sought more help from EU officials. In an April 3, 2023, email, an executive at the company’s Swiss office asked for another meeting, explaining that Mexico’s “business environment is still marked by uncertainty, judicial processes, interpretations, and doubtful, temporary and unclear administrative acts.”    After a ban on vapes and heated tobacco went into effect in Mexico, Philip Morris International sought more help from EU officials. (Redactions by the European Commission. Highlighting by The Examination) Soon after the email, European trade officials issued what is known as a barrier to trade notice, reporting Mexico’s IQOS ban as a potential trade treaty violation. PMI representatives and trade officials met later that month, when the company contended similar bans in Argentina, Brazil and Vietnam were trade barriers, according to a Commission report summarizing the meeting. The Commission spokesperson said it had acted in response to a formal complaint that “involved discriminatory treatment of like products” and that it did not undertake any further action regarding Mexico. Mexico’s Supreme Court struck down the ban in November 2024, allowing PMI to continue selling IQOS there.  The correspondence shows how PMI leveraged its status as a major European employer and exporter. The company employed more than 21,500 people in Europe as of 2023 and had 20 manufacturing sites there. In one email, a PMI representative told a European trade official that a meeting would be a “good opportunity to update you [on] the most recent data on EU exports in the tobacco sector and PMI’s investments in the EU.” OFFICIALS QUESTION TURKEY’S TAXES, RULES ON LOCAL TOBACCO EU officials also assisted PMI in trying to change rules on cigarettes.  In July 2023, a company representative complained to EU officials about Turkey’s cigarette tax, saying in an email that Turkey had “one of the highest ad valorem duty levels in the world.” The representative also flagged Turkey’s “local content” rule, which required that cigarettes made and sold in the country contain a certain amount of domestic tobacco. The PMI representative wrote that the company had “prepared a few suggestions” for the Commission’s upcoming report on Turkey’s economic and diplomatic relationships with the EU.  That report, which came out in November 2023, flagged Turkey’s taxes and the local content rule. That elicited the email from PMI thanking EU officials for their help. Meanwhile, the company was pushing European Commission officials to raise the local content rule again, but in a different forum: an upcoming World Trade Organization (WTO) review of Turkey’s trade policies. PMI provided EU trade officials with questions to ask Turkey. EU officials then submitted a question prior to the review, asking whether the local content requirement for tobacco and other industries would continue, according to meeting minutes. The Commission spokesperson did not directly answer questions from The Examination and POLITICO about its actions regarding Turkey. Turkey has not changed its requirements on local tobacco or its tax rate.  MEETINGS PART OF A MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR LOBBYING EFFORT The meetings are part of an industry lobby that spends $16.2 million (14 million euros) a year in the EU, according to a report by Contre-Feu and STOP, another anti-tobacco group, released Wednesday. Contre-Feu mapped a network of 49 organizations and companies, including Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco, that lobbied the European Commission and Parliament to weaken tobacco regulations and set lower taxes on new nicotine products, both within and outside the EU. (British American Tobacco did not respond to requests for comment.) The interactions between the tobacco industry and EU officials appear to be extensive, according to the documents. They include several dozen email exchanges and refer to at least nine meetings between EU officials and tobacco companies or industry-supported groups.  In addition to the six meetings with PMI, there were three other meetings with tobacco representatives. Trade staff met with three other companies and a tobacco trade group in March 2024 to hear their requests for more favorable tariff rules for new nicotine products. In a separate video conference, British American Tobacco asked trade staff to intervene at a WTO hearing over Saudi Arabia’s proposed tax hike on e-cigarette cartridges. (The EU did not take action, according to the documents.) And in a third meeting, the EU’s former agriculture commissioner, a Polish member of the EU parliament and two tobacco farming lobby groups discussed tobacco subsidies and the Commission’s position on the global tobacco treaty. Nathalie Darge, secretary general of Tobacco Europe, the trade group included in one of those meetings, said its input focused on technical requirements and that it wanted to “ensure legal certainty for operators and customs authorities.” One European Commission report recapping a meeting with PMI was sent to 32 trade department officials and staff, including EU representatives assigned to Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Vietnam and division directors. Contre-Feu wrote that the dealings between government officials and tobacco representatives showed that “current rules to limit industry influence are falling short and European policymakers continue to be heavily lobbied by the tobacco industry and those working on its behalf.” PMI’s efforts are part of a long history of the tobacco industry using trade and investment pacts to expand markets and undermine health policies, said Suzanne Zhou, who works for the World Health Organization FCTC Knowledge Hub on Legal Challenges and a senior fellow at the Melbourne Law School in Australia. “Tobacco companies have lost the argument from a health perspective,” Zhou said. “So they are reframing the issue as a trade issue in the hopes that they can advance their interests in that forum instead.”  In the 1980s, the U.S. Trade Representative threatened sanctions if Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Thailand didn’t open their markets to U.S. cigarette companies. A study later concluded that cigarette consumption in those four markets was nearly 10 percent higher than it would have been if they had remained closed to U.S. companies.  More recently, Australia and Uruguay faced trade litigation from the industry or industry-aligned governments over their tobacco control policies.  COMMISSION CRITICIZED FOR UNDISCLOSED MEETINGS Contre-Feu contended that the documents also show that EU officials didn’t disclose meetings with the industry when they should have. To aid countries in implementing the tobacco treaty, delegates wrote a set of guidelines. They state that when setting and implementing public health policies, interactions with the tobacco industry should be limited to what is strictly necessary for effective regulation. Interactions should be conducted in public and disclosed whenever possible. And the guidelines emphasize that “all branches of government” should be made aware of industry efforts to interfere with policies. The Commission spokesperson said that’s exactly what it does: “Meetings with the tobacco industry are avoided, unless they are strictly necessary. If the applicable conditions are met, meetings are held in a fully transparent manner and are appropriately documented.” But EU trade officials did not disclose any of these meetings on the website where the trade department reports such contacts. One batch of documents was released through a request for access; another batch was obtained by Contre-Feu. One of the meetings not disclosed by trade officials occurred in July 2023. Global health leaders were scheduled to meet that November to update the FCTC. The European Commission was considering supporting strict limitations on heated tobacco products.  A Commission report summarizing a July 19, 2023, meeting with PMI said that the company had “alerted” the Commission about language “calling on WHO members to adopt import bans on heated tobacco products.” The company asserted that EU tobacco policy should take into account WTO agreements, which the company has contended would preclude countries from banning IQOS.  Philip Morris International met with European Commission trade officials in July 2023 to discuss a proposed change to a global tobacco control treaty that would have banned heated tobacco. Though such meetings are supposed to be disclosed, this one wasn’t. (Redactions by the European Commission. Highlighting by The Examination) The documents don’t say anything about whether the Commission took action, and tobacco-friendly countries in the EU such as Italy and Greece pushed back against restrictive guidelines. But in the end, the Commission took no position on heated tobacco— a victory for the industry.  During the period covered by the documents, the EU required only high-ranking Commission officials to report meetings with companies or special-interest groups. In December 2024, the Commission tightened rules to require disclosure by additional staff. It’s unclear whether those rules would’ve required disclosure of these meetings.  Former EU ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, found other instances in which the Commission didn’t disclose meetings with the tobacco industry, which she concluded failed to meet transparency rules required under international law.  Contre-Feu has urged the EU to tighten transparency guidelines even further by extending disclosure requirements to all staff, among other things. The group said in its report that the extensive lobbying and lack of disclosure “reveal either a repeated violation of the FCTC by the European Commission or, at the very least, an insufficient implementation of the treaty’s measures.” Mathieu Tourliere of Proceso contributed reporting. STOP has received support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, which also provides financial support to The Examination. The Examination operates independently and is solely responsible for its content. Correction: This story has been corrected to say that the report on tobacco industry lobbying was jointly published by Contre-Feu and STOP, and that STOP has received support from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Public places such as beaches, parks and gardens, areas near schools, bus stops and sports facilities will be tobacco-free starting July 1, the French health and family minister Catherine Vautrin said.  “Where there are children, tobacco must disappear,” the minister told Ouest-France on Thursday, adding that the freedom to smoke “ends where children’s right to breathe fresh air begins.” The fine for smoking in such areas will reach €135. Smoking will still be allowed on café terraces and e-cigarettes are exempt from the new ban. Some municipalities have already introduced local bans, but the new rules will apply nationwide from July. No decision has been made on banning cigarette sales to people under 18, but Vautrin said she is “not ruling anything out for the future.” Asked about a possible tax hike on tobacco, Vautrin said that no new increases are planned for now.  The authorized nicotine level and the number of flavors for e-cigarettes should be reduced by the end of the first half of 2026, the minister said, adding that for such measures she needs “scientific and technical opinions to establish the details.” The move comes as part of the measures of the National Tobacco Control Program 2023-2027. The French measures align with the European Commission’s Beating Cancer Plan, which aims to create a “tobacco-free generation” by 2040 — defined as having less than 5 percent of the population using tobacco.

Twelve counties, led by the Netherlands, are pushing the European Commission to revise tobacco legislation, warning that existing rules should include new nicotine products. Ministers have written to Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi today to urge the Hungarian to revamp the Tobacco Products Directive, which dates back to 2014 and which the EU executive has pledged to revise as part of its Beating Cancer Plan. They’re particularly worried that younger people are starting to use e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches, which the directive doesn’t currently cover. “Therefore, we call upon the Commission to develop, propose and implement future-proof EU legislation to reduce the attractiveness of e-cigarettes and other emerging nicotine products (like nicotine pouches), especially to young people,” the letter, seen by POLITICO, reads. These regulations should include “comprehensive restrictions” on flavors, maximum nicotine levels and plain packaging. The ministers also raise concerns about national measures being undermined by cross-border sales, and say social media platforms should take greater responsibility for the marketing of the products. Vincent Karremans, Minister for Youth, Prevention and Sport of the Netherlands, said in a statement: “Vaping can lead to serious addiction problems and even pulmonary hemorrhages. Despite the major health risks, 1 in 7 young people aged 12 to 16 vape monthly. So we are dealing with a very serious problem.” The Netherlands has already banned flavored vapes, Karremans said. The other signatories are Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia and Spain.

Disposable vapes will soon be outlawed in Belgium — and the country is calling on the European Commission to follow suit. Belgium has passed new rules meaning that, as of Wednesday, the sale of disposable e-cigarettes will be banned. The new rules also mean that people will be barred from smoking in more public spaces, such as sports venues, zoos and playgrounds, as well as near schools and hospitals. Frank Vandenbroucke, Belgium’s health minister, told the Associated Press that the ban on disposable vapes is for both health and environmental reasons.  The ban is the first of its kind to come into force in Europe, Vandenbroucke said, but Belgium is not alone. Australia has limited the sale of vapes to pharmacies and the U.K. has banned single-use vapes starting in June 2025. Vandenbroucke said he wants the changes to go further than Belgium. “We are really calling on the European Commission to come forward now with new initiatives to update, to modernize, the tobacco legislation,” he said. In June, 12 EU member countries — including the largest economies France and Germany — called on the Commission to push through already-delayed smoking reforms.  The Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Under the new Belgian rules, reusable vapes are not banned; Vandenbroucke said they can be helpful for people trying to quit smoking. Steven Pomeranc, owner of the Vapotheque shop in Brussels, told the AP that he thinks the ban will not hurt sales because people can use rechargeable vapes instead.

Europe’s capitals have supported Brussels’ plan to extend smoking bans for cigarettes and vapes to outdoor areas — days after members of the European Parliament opposed it. Only two countries — Germany and Greece — abstained during a vote on the measure during a meeting of health ministers in Brussels on Tuesday. Other countries expressed their dissatisfaction with the plan, before nonetheless passing it. The move, which is nonbinding, encourages national governments to prohibit vaping and smoking in outdoor areas such as transport hubs, bar and café terraces, beaches and playgrounds. And while there was significant opposition to the plan among lawmakers last week in Europe’s now more polarized Parliament, the capitals were able to largely align with Brussels’ intention. To some who opposed it in the Parliament, the capitals’ vote is merely symbolic. “I regret the voting outcome in the Health Council regarding the smoke-free environment topic,” said German lawmaker and doctor Peter Liese, “but I also believe it is a Pyrrhic victory for the opponents of e-cigarettes.” Liese, the health spokesperson for the European People’s Party, argues that vapes and cigarettes should not be treated equally, and that vapes can help smokers to quit. In the Parliament, left-leaning MEPs had argued that a watered-down compromise steered by the center-right EPP and the European Conservatives and Reformists was too weak on vapes, while right-wing parliamentarians said that the European Union shouldn’t be legislating in this area. UNLIKELY DEFENSE Some national media reports on the move led to an unlikely defender of the EU process in Tuesday’s health ministers’ meeting — Hungary. Its Health Minister Péter Takács, who chaired the meeting while Hungary holds the Council of the EU’s rotating presidency, said: “In many member states’ press we see some misunderstandings. This is a Council recommendation which means that there is no binding effect for member states.” Countries can “pick and choose” if they want to implement the recommendation, he said, adding: “There is no obligatory ban,” in this instance — unlike binding tobacco legislation which the European Commission is supposed to be introducing during this new mandate.  Hungary’s Olivér Várhelyi, also toed the Commission’s line in his first ministers’ meeting as the EU’s health commissioner. He said the revision was needed “in order to better protect people in the EU from exposure to secondhand smoke and aerosols in indoor and specific outdoor spaces.” “The World Health Organization clearly states that there is no safe or acceptable level of exposure to secondhand smoke,” he said. “Secondhand emissions from electronic cigarettes also put people nearby at risk, whether they contain nicotine or not.” But that’s not the position in Germany. Thomas Steffen, Germany’s state secretary at the Federal Ministry of Health, pointed to a decision made last week by the country’s Bundesrat, the legislative body representing its federal states. It questioned the “scientific basis” for outdoor bans and that the Commission’s recommendation could “lead to a loss of sales in the catering industry and poses further challenges for businesses in enforcing the bans.”  Greece’s Health Minister Spyridon-Adonis Georgiadis also abstained, saying the Commission should have done an impact assessment before putting forward the recommendation. He said that in Greece — which has the highest rates of smoking in Europe at 42 percent of those over 15 — the “climate and geographical location” would carry a “particular weight” in terms of implementing any new prohibitions. Health ministers from Romania and Czechia called for more studies to demonstrate the risks of vapes — but they went on to back the recommendation. ALIGNING NATIONAL BANS Many of the countries supporting the plan have already introduced similar legislation nationally — and want to see the rest of Europe aligned. France’s Health Minister Geneviève Darrieussecq said new measures being introduced in the coming weeks meant that vapes — which “lead to addictions and poor health” —  will no longer be sold in the country, and called for similar preventative action to be “reflected at European level.” Slovenia has banned all flavored vapes — except for tobacco flavor — while the Netherlands has also outlawed certain flavors. But with neighboring countries still selling them, the Dutch Health Minister Fleur Agema said the country is still seeing illegal products on the market and therefore called for more EU action. Belgium’s Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said countries are currently playing “cat and mouse” with the tobacco industry, which is “flooding” EU markets with “ever so creative new tobacco, nicotine or smoking products, cleverly attracting and addicting young generations.” While Estonia echoed calls for EU-wide restrictions, arguing that its own ban on flavored vapes is undermined by different legislation in neighboring countries. With the nonbinding measures passed, many countries — including Finland, Latvia and Belgium — now want the Commission to move ahead with its revision of harder-hitting tobacco rules, which will include updated laws on taxation, as well as a refresh of its overarching tobacco framework. But that means getting MEPs on side, which might not be so easy.

Passing smoking legislation will be no easy feat for the new European Commission, if Thursday is anything to go by. Members of the European Parliament failed to agree a position on even a nonbinding decision on smoking and vaping restrictions in a surprise move in the Parliament’s plenary. The Commission recommended earlier this year that European countries extend smoking bans to cover outdoor areas like restaurants, bars, cafés and transport hubs, and this included vapes and nicotine-free products. The first of a series of measures expected to come out from the European Union executive on the topic, the so-called smoke free environments plan is the softest of the lot, since it’s up to national governments if they want to follow the recommendations. The Parliament’s position is symbolic rather than political, but, nevertheless, lawmakers in Strasbourg failed to reach an agreement. A watered-down version of the Commission’s vision had been negotiated among some political groups, but failed to win enough support from lawmakers with 378 votes against, 152 in favour and 26 abstentions. That’s because new amendments supported by the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) members and European Conservative and Reformists, which removed references to e-cigarettes and outdoor cafés and bars, went too far for groups on the left. The Socialists and Democrats (S&D) rejected the plan, arguing that it was now too soft on vapes, while the far-right groups, and some EPP members, rejected it because they considered it too harsh, or because they don’t see it as an EU competence. DIVISIVE TOPIC Amendments to tweak the position also failed to gain enough support.  Peter Liese, a German lawmaker from the EPP, voted against the proposal, arguing that it’s still too strong on vapes, which he argues can be a legitimate alternative for smokers trying to quit. “I find it troubling that the Commission completely equates e-cigarettes with traditional cigarettes,” he said. “This is definitely wrong … a heavy smoker who switches from traditional cigarettes to e-cigarettes is doing something good for their health. Imposing restrictions, such as when visiting the outdoor areas of a café, might be counterproductive.” The World Health Organization’s position is that in countries that allow e-cigarettes, governments should ensure “strong regulations” to reduce their appeal and their harm to the population, including banning all flavors, limiting the concentration and quality of nicotine, and taxing them. Another EPP lawmaker, granted anonymity to speak freely, said: “It’s a divisive topic. We had a big discussion in the EPP and a big majority was in favor of being less restrictive than the original resolution, in that prohibiting electronic cigarettes in outdoor terraces was too much.” But the MEP said the watered-down proposal was still too strong for German and Austrian lawmakers in the group. The center-left S&D group took a different view. It said in a statement after the vote that Parliament “failed to protect children and young people today,” and blamed the EPP and far-right groups for blocking “critical recommendations” to extend public bans against e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. As a result, the S&D group was “forced to vote against the watered-down resolution to preserve the integrity of smoke-free policies,” it said. Tiemo Wölken, S&D coordinator for the environment, public health and food safety committee said: “It is cynical and scandalous that the EPP does not want to combat the number one cause of cancer and instead falls for the tobacco lobby’s rhetoric that e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products are harmless.”  Michael Landl, director of the World Vapers’ Alliance, celebrated the vote, saying it “demonstrates that facts and consumer choice can prevail over fearmongering and overregulation, dealing a blow to the creeping nanny state mentality that has too often characterized EU regulations.” It raises questions for next week’s meeting of health ministers, who were expected to sign off on an agreement on the recommendation. So far, Italy and Romania have raised some concerns about the measure, according to a report from a pro-vaping outlet, but one Council health official had said before the Parliament vote that it was expected countries would find agreement when they meet on Dec. 3. The official said the vote wouldn’t affect the Council’s position next week on the plan but it does “raise concerns” on the revision of the tobacco products directive, upcoming legislation which will require support from all EU institutions when it’s ultimately released by the Commission. The Parliament’s outcome “is bad news,” the official added.

France plans to ban nicotine pouches, which have gained popularity among teenagers, according to Health Minister Geneviève Darrieussecq. “They are dangerous products because they contain high doses of nicotine,” Darrieussecq told Le Parisien, adding that the ban will be announced in the coming weeks. “The marketing of these products is directly targeted at young people and I hope that we can protect our young people,” she said. Nicotine pouches are small bags of nicotine, flavoring and plant-based fibers that are placed under the lip to release a hit. Companies have been marketing them as safer alternative to smoking cigarettes. But according to Darrieussecq, they can be just as dangerous, “especially when they are used not by former smokers but by young people,” she said. She argued the pouches risk inducing nicotine addiction and serve as an entry into smoking. In June, 12 EU health ministers pressured the European Commission to introduce restrictions for nicotine products on the market, while also banning flavored vapes. “I am very concerned because poison control centers are receiving more and more calls from teenagers for acute nicotine syndromes, sometimes severe, in connection with the consumption of the pouches,” Darrieussecq told the French newspaper. “It is our duty to prohibit the marketing of these products,” she added.