{"id":6800,"date":"2026-02-23T05:17:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T10:17:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/?p=6800"},"modified":"2026-02-23T05:17:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T10:17:21","slug":"eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\/","title":{"rendered":"EESC\u2019s call for \u2018less harm, less tax\u2019 approach on nicotine products"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brussels, 23 February 2026 \u2013 The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eesc.europa.eu\/en\/our-work\/opinions-information-reports\/opinions\/revision-tobacco-taxation-directive\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">draft opinion<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on the revision of the Tobacco Taxation Directive (TED) <\/span><b>calls on the EU to follow a risk\u2011based taxation approach<\/b> <b>and warns that excessively high, poorly designed taxes can fuel the illicit market,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> undermine public health goals and reduce legal tax revenues instead of cutting smoking.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the EESC supports revising the Directive to update the tax framework, it argues that taxation should be aligned with differences in harm between products. Under this \u201cless harm, less tax\u201d logic, combustible cigarettes should face the highest tax burden, while lower\u2011risk alternatives should not be taxed at the same level.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><i>\u201cThis is a clear message from inside the EU that taxes must reflect differences in harm. The Commission and the Council should take note and change direction \u2013 stop taxing all nicotine products the same and move to a truly risk\u2011based system,\u201d<\/i><\/b> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">said Alberto G\u00f3mez Hern\u00e1ndez, Policy Manager at World Vapers Alliance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the EESC argues for a proportionate, risk\u2011based approach, the Council is currently pushing to sharply raise minimum excise levels on e\u2011liquids \u2013 a 50% increase from the latest compromise text, as reported by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/post\/exclusive-eu-puts-huge-vape-tax-increase-back-on-the-table\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clearing the Air<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This creates a clear clash between an EU advisory body calling for risk\u2011based taxation and a Council line that treats very different products as if they posed the same risk.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c<\/span><\/i><b><i>This is the moment for the Council to decide what really comes first: public health or tax revenue. The priority should be helping as many smokers as possible move away from cigarettes<\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, not squeezing extra euros out of the products that can help them quit,\u201d <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0added G\u00f3mez Hern\u00e1ndez.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brussels, 23 February 2026 \u2013 The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) draft opinion on the revision of the Tobacco Taxation Directive (TED) calls on the EU to follow a risk\u2011based taxation approach and warns that excessively high, poorly designed taxes can fuel the illicit market, undermine public health goals and reduce legal tax revenues [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":6730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>EESC\u2019s call for \u2018less harm, less tax\u2019 approach on nicotine products - World Vapers&#039; Alliance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"EESC draft opinion on the revision of the Tobacco Taxation Directive (TED) calls on the EU to follow a risk\u2011based taxation approach.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EESC\u2019s call for \u2018less harm, less tax\u2019 approach on nicotine products - World Vapers&#039; Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"EESC draft opinion on the revision of the Tobacco Taxation Directive (TED) calls on the EU to follow a risk\u2011based taxation approach.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World Vapers&#039; Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-23T10:17:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Press-Release-Banner-NEW-Square-scaled.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2362\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alberto Hernandez\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alberto Hernandez\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alberto Hernandez\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9b81eefe507e68fb5ab671aa0ab2bfb6\"},\"headline\":\"EESC\u2019s call for \u2018less harm, less tax\u2019 approach on nicotine products\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-23T10:17:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":293,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/Press-Release-Banner-NEW-Square-scaled.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Press Releases\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\\\/\",\"name\":\"EESC\u2019s call for \u2018less harm, less tax\u2019 approach on nicotine products - World Vapers&#039; Alliance\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/Press-Release-Banner-NEW-Square-scaled.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-23T10:17:21+00:00\",\"description\":\"EESC draft opinion on the revision of the Tobacco Taxation Directive (TED) calls on the EU to follow a risk\u2011based taxation approach.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/Press-Release-Banner-NEW-Square-scaled.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/Press-Release-Banner-NEW-Square-scaled.png\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":2362},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"World Vapers&#039; Alliance\",\"description\":\"The largest community of vapers\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"World Vapers&#039; Alliance\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/WVA_RB_Fist_G.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/WVA_RB_Fist_G.png\",\"width\":985,\"height\":1177,\"caption\":\"World Vapers&#039; Alliance\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9b81eefe507e68fb5ab671aa0ab2bfb6\",\"name\":\"Alberto Hernandez\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/124dc1dd8c5f9c9f352af940db00418f1add423008d32a51d5497b5de2c9ff35?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/124dc1dd8c5f9c9f352af940db00418f1add423008d32a51d5497b5de2c9ff35?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/124dc1dd8c5f9c9f352af940db00418f1add423008d32a51d5497b5de2c9ff35?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Alberto Hernandez\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldvapersalliance.com\\\/en_gb\\\/author\\\/alberto\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"EESC\u2019s call for \u2018less harm, less tax\u2019 approach on nicotine products - World Vapers&#039; Alliance","description":"EESC draft opinion on the revision of the Tobacco Taxation Directive (TED) calls on the EU to follow a risk\u2011based taxation approach.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"EESC\u2019s call for \u2018less harm, less tax\u2019 approach on nicotine products - World Vapers&#039; Alliance","og_description":"EESC draft opinion on the revision of the Tobacco Taxation Directive (TED) calls on the EU to follow a risk\u2011based taxation approach.","og_url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\/","og_site_name":"World Vapers&#039; Alliance","article_published_time":"2026-02-23T10:17:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":2362,"url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Press-Release-Banner-NEW-Square-scaled.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Alberto Hernandez","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Alberto Hernandez","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\/"},"author":{"name":"Alberto Hernandez","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9b81eefe507e68fb5ab671aa0ab2bfb6"},"headline":"EESC\u2019s call for \u2018less harm, less tax\u2019 approach on nicotine products","datePublished":"2026-02-23T10:17:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\/"},"wordCount":293,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Press-Release-Banner-NEW-Square-scaled.png","articleSection":["Press Releases"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\/","url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\/","name":"EESC\u2019s call for \u2018less harm, less tax\u2019 approach on nicotine products - World Vapers&#039; Alliance","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Press-Release-Banner-NEW-Square-scaled.png","datePublished":"2026-02-23T10:17:21+00:00","description":"EESC draft opinion on the revision of the Tobacco Taxation Directive (TED) calls on the EU to follow a risk\u2011based taxation approach.","inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/eescs-call-for-less-harm-less-tax-approach-on-nicotine-products\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Press-Release-Banner-NEW-Square-scaled.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Press-Release-Banner-NEW-Square-scaled.png","width":2560,"height":2362},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/","name":"World Vapers&#039; Alliance","description":"The largest community of vapers","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#organization","name":"World Vapers&#039; Alliance","url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/WVA_RB_Fist_G.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/WVA_RB_Fist_G.png","width":985,"height":1177,"caption":"World Vapers&#039; Alliance"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9b81eefe507e68fb5ab671aa0ab2bfb6","name":"Alberto Hernandez","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/124dc1dd8c5f9c9f352af940db00418f1add423008d32a51d5497b5de2c9ff35?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/124dc1dd8c5f9c9f352af940db00418f1add423008d32a51d5497b5de2c9ff35?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/124dc1dd8c5f9c9f352af940db00418f1add423008d32a51d5497b5de2c9ff35?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Alberto Hernandez"},"url":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/author\/alberto\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldvapersalliance.com\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}