3.12.25 – Brussels. The World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA) warns that the Danish EU Council Presidency’s push for a “super tax” on heated tobacco and other less harmful nicotine products, backed by the European Commission, risks derailing tobacco harm reduction and punishing millions of consumers who have switched away from cigarettes.

A new draft text on the Tobacco Excise Directive (TED) would more than double the minimum tax on heated tobacco from €155 to €360 per kilogram and introduce a mandatory minimum of 55% of the retail price, closely mirroring demands from anti-tobacco NGOs.

The text ignores the demands of thousands of EU citizens and health experts who participated in the TED public consultation, as well as warnings from 83 leading public health experts that the Commission’s tax plan ignores science and risks reversing progress.

Michael Landl, directeur van de World Vapers' Alliance, zei:

“Making less harmful products relatively more expensive compared to cigarettes is a profoundly counterproductive idea. When price differences between cigarettes and less harmful alternatives disappear, smokers lose the financial incentive to switch. The result is predictable and tragic. Fewer people will move away from cigarettes, and those who have already switched will be pushed back to smoking. This ‘super tax’ is not evidence-based health policy; it is prohibition by price.”

Member States critical of the reform have already raised the alarm that these changes ignore calls for proportionate tax rises, preservation of price differentials for harm reduction products and serious assessment of illicit trade risks.

“Member States have repeatedly asked for moderation, impact assessments and protection of harm-reduction strategies. EU tax policy cannot be outsourced to unaccountable pressure groups while citizens and national governments are sidelined. This is ideology dressed up as taxation,” Landl voegde toe.

The World Vapers’ Alliance calls on sensible member states to stand against such a regressive tax plan and rather listen to the successful countries in the EU. Sweden proves that harm reduction works. With a smoking rate of just 4.5 percent among Swedish-born adults, Sweden has achieved what the rest of Europe can only dream of, 16 years ahead of the EU 2040 target. This success came from making less harmful alternatives accessible and affordable, not by taxing them out of reach.