EU-wide excise tax on novel tobacco products: A tough equation to solve

 This article is part of our special report The EU future of novel tobacco products.

The European Commission’s intention to impose an EU-wide minimum excise tax on novel products, such as electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches, has divided relevant stakeholders over whether it could bring the desired results.

Some argue that heavy taxation would result in smokers not switching to novel products, which some studies claim are less harmful than traditional cigarettes.

Others insist that such a move is needed, considering that harm is still harm, and therefore, taxation is a tool to prevent people from consuming these products at all, particularly young people.

Currently, there is no EU-wide excise framework as there is for traditional tobacco products. The situation in the EU single market is quite fragmented, as member states tax e-liquids and heated tobacco products at different rates. (...)