Brussels, 15 April 2025 – The World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA) reacts with alarm to the Bild Zeitung report revealing the European Commission’s nicotine tax plan. The EU is considering a 30% hike in cigarette prices and, even more outrageously, plans to drastically increase taxation on vaping products and other less harmful nicotine alternatives. With the official announcement possibly coming as soon as tomorrow, the WVA urges the Commission to abandon this reckless move, which would punish millions of smokers trying to quit, hit the poorest hardest, and hand anti-EU populists a powerful new talking point.

Michael Landl, Director of the World Vapers’ Alliance, said:

“This is not just bad policy, it’s a public health disaster giving way to social injustice. The Commission is ignoring science, punishing the poor, and giving anti-EU voices exactly what they want: proof that Brussels is out of touch and doesn’t care about ordinary people.”

Smoking rates are highest among low-income Europeans, who are also the least able to afford higher prices. “By raising taxes across the board, the Commission is making it even harder for the most disadvantaged to escape cigarette addiction. Vaping and other less harmful alternatives should be taxed less, not more, to give smokers every incentive to switch. The EU must reverse course before it does irreparable harm to millions of its citizens”, Landl concluded.