With the European Commission’s Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) soon to be revised, the tobacco policy debate in Europe is reaching a boiling point, revealing an ever-increasing divergence between scientific evidence and regulatory action. A rising coalition of consumer advocates, policymakers, and harm reduction experts is now cautioning that the E.U. is on a counterproductive path, one that threatens to slow or even reverse progress in reducing smoking across the bloc.

A united front against EU policy direction

Earlier on April 13, a letter signed by seven consumer organizations from across Europe was addressed to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi. Their statement was unequivocal: the TPD revision that is currently underway is out of step with real-world evidence and neglects the role played by lower risk nicotine products in driving smoking down.

Read the full text here