During the ECOFIN informal gathering of EU Ministers of Finance in Warsaw, Minister Andrzej Domański reported that Poland is not exerting force on the European Commission to accelerate work on the Tobacco Directive.
The precedence of the Polish Presidency of the EU Council is to be securitisation. Meanwhile, there is simply a discussion in Brussels on changes to the EU Tobacco Directive. The minimum rate of excise work per cigaret package in the EU can increase even twice: from EUR 1.8 to EUR 3.6. This would lead to a level playing field between EU countries. The price increase would be the most severe for smokers from those countries that joined the EU in 2004, including Poland, due to a importantly lower share of excise work in the price of a cigaret parcel than the fresh EU minima. A pack of cigarettes over Vistula could cost up to 40 PLN. The fresh Tobacco Directive can be opened already during the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU.
The request to open a fresh tobacco directive is being spoken more and more frequently and more loudly
– It is actual that the alleged Tobacco Directive has not been updated for many years. However, we do not have any force on the European Commission on this issue, but of course there is area for further discussion on this directive. present we want to talk first of all about securitisation issues, about the savings and investment union. This is the subject that we want to deal with during our Presidency – the Minister of Finance Andrzej Domanski answered the question of Newseria during the briefing after the ECOFIN gathering in Warsaw.
The request to open a fresh tobacco directive is increasingly and increasingly spoken, mainly due to the evolving tobacco marketplace and its risks, especially in the context of children and young people and young adults.
The current Tobacco Directive has been amended respective times
In the European Commission, the revision of the Tobacco Directive is addressed by the Dutch Commissioner for Climate Affairs, Net Zero Emissions and Clean Growth, Wopke Hoekstra. It is the Dutch government that is powerfully pushing the European Commission to velocity up its work on the beginning of the directive. Currently, the excise work on cigarettes in the Netherlands amounts to €7.66 per package and is 1 of the highest in the EU. For a pack of cigarettes around 8.27 euros (about 35 zł). In the EU, more costly cigarettes are only in Ireland and France.
The current Tobacco Directive was adopted in 2014 and has been amended respective times – late in 2022. It introduced the anticipation of prohibiting the sale of heated tobacco products with a characteristic aroma (e.g. menthol) if their marketplace share exceeds the threshold of 2.5% of the full EU sales of specified products. The implementation of the provisions of this Directive in Poland was ensured by the amendment of the Tobacco Act in February this year.
E-cigarettes are available in all kiosk, at all gas station, in vending machines
Health Minister Isabella Leszczyna argues that the same ban in the EU should besides be on the e-cigarette market.
– In the meantime, they have spread, and I would like to usage the word unfortunately, alleged electronic cigarettes, multi- and one-off cigarettes and they attract with their unusual colors, smells, and even tastes. They are unfortunately available in all kiosk, all gas station, in vending machines. They're colored, they pretend to be blueberries, strawberries, and something else, and kids get caught, colloquially speaking, in color, in taste, in smell. On the another hand, as far as the directive is concerned, if we have done something for 1 group of tobacco products, we should besides do it for those who are equally harmful and now increasingly used. I am convinced that I would like the Danish Presidency to be able to do so in March, erstwhile the EU wellness Ministers met the head of the Polish wellness Ministry, Izabel Leszin.
Underage people in Poland present can legally buy non-smoking e-cigarettes and nicotine sachets
The Polish government wants to limit the availability of disposable e-cigarettes and nicotine sachets for young people. The draft ban on the sale of specified products to minors has already been notified to the EC and is waiting for consideration. Under current regulations, minors in Poland can now legally buy both non-smoking e-cigarettes and nicotine sachets.
– In Poland, we already have a bill notified at the minute in Brussels, which forbids these non-smoking cigarettes to children, young people under the age of 18," added the Minister of Health. Following the Commission's approval, the Polish Government may implement provisions prohibiting the sale of specified products to persons under 18.
