Tobacco Europe and its members constructively participated in the Open Public Consultation (OPC) on the revision of the TPD and TAD Directives that concluded on August 14.
As the 12-week window to submit responses has come to an end, Tobacco Europe expresses its concerns regarding the upcoming legislative proposal. Firstly, the way the OPC was designed limits its capacity to generate clear, neutral, balanced, and decision-relevant evidence, as well as to enable meaningful stakeholder participation. The survey suffered from various methodological issues, including leading questions and framing that limited our ability to provide precise responses. The European Commission’s platform itself also experienced technical glitches, with questions appearing and disappearing, stakeholders not receiving confirmation emails, and other related issues.
Importantly, given the tight timeframe in which the file is progressing, with a draft expected by the end of the year, we are concerned that our responses may not be adequately taken into consideration by the European Commission. In our view, it will be materially impossible for the relevant DGs to fully assess all the evidence submitted by the numerous stakeholders who responded to the consultation in such short period.
Considering these shortcomings, we therefore call on the European Commission to invite us to a targeted stakeholder consultation, allowing us to present more comprehensive data and substantive evidence on tobacco, nicotine, and non-nicotine products.
Following the closure of the European Commission’s Call for Evidence on the review of the Tobacco Products Directive and the Tobacco Advertising Directive, Tobacco Europe calls for rules that are evidence-based, proportionate, and informed by robust scientific evidence.
Tobacco Europe contributed to this exercise with a constructive, data-driven approach, and will continue to contribute to the ongoing Open Public Consultation, which allows submissions until 14 August.
Our sector supports around 1.5 million jobs across Europe, the majority of them generated by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating throughout the value chain ranging from manufacturers to growers, logistics, retailers. A balanced regulatory framework should take into account the interests of all the value chain stakeholders. To effectively reduce smoking prevalence, future policy must clearly distinguish between combustible and smokeless products. As combustion is the primary driver of smoking-related disease, the forthcoming Impact Assessment should evaluate the risk profiles of different products, their potential health impacts, and consumer behaviour.
Tobacco Europe calls on policymakers to embrace innovation and ensure that future regulation supports access to innovative smokeless products, helping deliver better outcomes for consumers, public health and the European economy.
You can read here our contribution in full:
Tobacco-Europe-contributes-to-the-Call-for-Evidence.pdf
The European Commission’s evaluation of the EU tobacco legislation falls short of the evidence-based standard it set for itself. After four years and significant resources, the report relies on assumptions, selective interpretation, and acknowledged data gaps rather than robust and evidence-based analysis.
It fails to establish clear causal links between policy measures and outcomes and largely ignores real-world evidence from Member States. Sweden, for example, has reduced daily smoking to just 5.3%, achieving the lowest smoking rates in the EU alongside markedly lower rates of smoking-related diseases, a success closely linked to the availability of smokeless alternatives. Similarly, countries such as Greece and Czechia have recorded steep declines in smoking prevalence in recent years. These national experiences demonstrate that outcomes vary significantly across the EU and that consumer behaviour and access to alternatives play a decisive role, factors the report does not meaningfully assess.
Instead of learning from what works in practice, the report leans toward further restrictions while overlooking key challenges on the ground. In the Netherlands, stricter measures have coincided with rising illicit trade and increased underage vaping, while Belgium is seeing similar trends, with a significant share of the vapour market estimated to be illegal. These examples highlight a critical gap between policy design and real-world impact. By failing to address enforcement, illicit trade, and the role of harm reduction, the Commission risks advancing measures that may be ineffective or even counterproductive.
A credible revision of EU tobacco rules must be grounded in real-world outcomes, assess relative risks, and strike a balance between public health objectives, economic sustainability, and effective enforcement.
Brussels 16 March 2026
Tobacco Europe submitted to the European Commission's Call for Evidence its views on the Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD) Consultation, available here.
In parallel, Tobacco Europe contributed to the open public consultation, which is available on the European Commission website.
