The European Commission has just published its evaluation of the Tobacco Products Directive — the legal document that will shape tobacco and nicotine policy across the EU for the next decade. It is supposed to be an honest assessment of what has worked, what has not, and what needs to change. The headline finding: smoking across the EU has fallen by 14% since 2012. Brussels is celebrating this as a major achievement, writes Michael Landl, director at World Vapers Alliance.

While the Commission was busy congratulating itself, Sweden was doing something entirely different. This week, Stockholm announced its smoking rate has fallen to 3.7%. That is a 66% decline over the same period. Sweden did not do it with bans or by treating its citizens like children incapable of making informed choices. It did it by letting smokers switch to less harmful alternatives such as nicotine pouches, snus, and vaping.

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