Last week, the European Parliament voted to adopt Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan as proposed by the Special Committee on Beating Cancer which also concluded our first ever international campaign.

Under the slogan “Back Vaping. Beat Cancer,” the World Vapers’ Alliance campaigned to save 19 million lives in the EU. This is the number of people who could switch from smoking to vaping if politicians get regulations right. We fought for the inclusion of the harm reduction principle in the plan, against a potential vaping flavour ban and for affordability and accessibility of vaping products.

Overall, I think the Beating Cancer Plan can be seen as a step in the right direction. Finally, an EU institution acknowledges that vaping helps smokers to quit and recognises the potential of harm reduction. We all know this but, in the past, the EU would deny this reality. In addition, a full flavour ban for vaping is no longer included – even though the wording on flavours is still not great.

Obviously, these wins were the result of the efforts of many organisations and experts, but it is undeniable that the WVA played an important role in the process. So what did we do?

In Autumn 2020, we launched our Back Vaping. Beat Cancer campaign, with the goal to amplify the voices of vapers who have already experienced the benefits first-hand and quit smoking as a result. We wanted you to share these stories with the politicians who are deciding the future of the fight against cancer in Europe and make them realise vapers are not anomalies but evidence that it works.

We started a petition and asked people to tell their MEPs why this issue matters to them. Through our campaign, we gathered thousands of signatures and hundreds of emails and sent them to MEPs. This allowed us to deliver the concerns of vapers directly to powerful decision makers.

Unfortunately, COVID restrictions limited our possibilities at the start of the campaign. So we had to become creative and organised a COVID – friendly “protest” in front of the European Parliament.

After COVID restrictions were eased, we reminded MEPs of the power that lies in their hands by setting up a graffiti mural that showed, by embracing vaping, they could save 19 million lives in the EU.

Along the way we met with MEPs, staffers and participated in webinars to explain why politicians must back vaping. To amplify the voices of consumers, we also generated as much media attention as possible.

Fortunately, politicians started to listen. Due to the fact that Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan is non-binding and simply a position from the European Parliament, it is a good starting point for future EU legislation.  Now it is the Commission’s turn to implement the suggestions in the upcoming review of the Tobacco Products Directive.

Therefore, it is crucial that experts and we as consumers keep raising our voices – the fight is not over. It is our hope that the Commission’s future proposals also acknowledge harm reduction, and finally encourage the benefits of vaping. We will continue to advocate for our members, ensuring their voices are heard.