ETHRA’s monthly roundup of news: SCOHRE webinar - Netherlands letter to the Commission - Tobacco Excise Directive - Spanish petition - Urban myths about nicotine - Fanning the flames - Prof Siegel interview - Bulgaria backtracks - Country updates. Read on for more.
Contents:
The Netherlands leads call for EU to clamp down on vapes
Twelve countries, led by the Netherlands, are pushing the European Commission to revise tobacco legislation, warning that existing rules should include new nicotine products. Their letter calls on the Commission to include “comprehensive restrictions” on flavours, maximum nicotine levels and plain packaging for vapes and nicotine pouches.
Read more here:
https://www.politico.eu/article/the-netherlands-leads-call-for-eu-to-clamp-down-on-vapes/
Clive Bates responds in an open letter stating the Dutch-led move “threatens to undermine years of progress in helping smokers quit through safer alternatives like vaping and nicotine pouches”:
https://www.thebulletin.be/pressure-mounts-european-commission-tackle-overdue-tobacco-regulations
EUToday adds their response to the Dutch letter:
Growing anti-vaping hysteria risks undermining EU’s tobacco-free goals
Tobacco Excise Directive
The European Commission leadership will discuss tobacco taxation at the beginning of April following mounting pressure from member states to take action.
Read more here:
https://www.euractiv.com/section/health-consumers/news/commission-to-discuss-tobacco-taxation-at-highest-level/
Belgium
A display ban will come into force for all tobacco and nicotine products starting on 1 April.
Read more here:
https://euroweeklynews.com/2025/03/28/tobacco-products-to-disappear-from-shop-shelves-in-belgium-from-april-2025/
Bulgaria
Bulgaria has backtracked on its proposal for a blanket ban on vapes. Professor Kostadin Angelov, leader of the ruling GERB-SDF MP and Chairman of the Health Committee, has now announced a change to the wording to include a ban only on disposable vapes.
Read more here:
https://clearingtheair.eu/en/post/bulgaria-backsteps-on-blanket-vape-ban/
Czechia
Writing for Greek publication Liberal.gr Alexandros Skouras writes that the Czech policy of implementing harm reduction strategies may be the most realistic path to the long-awaited “smoke-free generation”.
Read more here:
Η Πειραματική προσέγγιση της Τσεχίας στη μείωση βλάβης / The Czech Republic's Experimental Approach to Harm Reduction
Denmark
The Danish government plans to restrict the nicotine content of pouches to 9 mg starting in July 2025. Clive Bates writes to the Danish Government to express concerns that the unintended consequences of this overly restrictive measure have not been examined.
Read the letter here:
https://clivebates.com/documents/DenmarkPouchesMar2025.pdf
France
Researcher Patrick Coquart cautions that the French government’s proposal to ban nicotine pouches would deprive adult smokers of an effective solution to avoid the dangers of combustible tobacco.
Read more here:
https://www.lepoint.fr/debats/ne-condamnez-pas-les-fumeurs-a-le-rester-toute-leur-vie-01-04-2025-2586272_2.php#11
Poland
Poland is considering a ban on disposable vapes and flavored nicotine pouches, with the Ministry of Health preparing a bill to be tabled in the third quarter of 2025.
Read more here:
https://www.euractiv.com/section/health-consumers/news/poland-one-step-closer-to-ban-flavoured-nicotine-pouches-restrict-e-cigarettes/
See this Tweet from the Polish Ministry of Health for details:
https://x.com/MZ_GOV_PL/status/1902347826769662412
Romania
Health professionals need to be more aware of the benefits to oral health from switching from smoking to nicotine pouches and other low-risk alternatives to smoking, according to Professor Dr. Mihaela Rãescu from the Titu Maiorescu University, Romania.
Read more here:
https://www.ft.lk/opinion/Tobacco-free-nicotine-pouchesreduce-smoking-impacts-on-oral-health/14-773911#
Spain
The Tobacco Harm Reduction Platform have started a petition to object the government's proposals to ban vape flavours, and restrict the content of nicotine pouches to a level so low that it would be a de facto ban. Do add your name and share.
Sign the petition here:
https://www.change.org/p/firma-aqu%C3%AD-por-una-espa%C3%B1a-sin-humo
SCOHRE Webinar
ETHRA partners Damian Sweeney and Clive Bates participated in a webinar entitled “The evolving regulatory landscape in the EU: Opportunities and Challenges”. The webinar addressed regulative aspects of tobacco harm reduction both from the top-down perspective of the regulator and the bottom-up perspective of the consumer.
See the webinar press release here:
https://mindview.newsletter.innoview.gr/index.php?action=social&chash=f0e52b27a7a5d6a1a87373dffa53dbe5.1161&s=4f2ee44717a98b65141182e71b9f89b4
Watch the webinar:
Six Urban Myths About Smoke-Free Nicotine
Dr Brad Rodu takes a scientific look at the myths surrounding nicotine.
Read more here
https://www.sensible-med.com/p/six-urban-myths-about-smoke-free
Fanning the Flame
A new paper published in Harm Reduction Journal analyses the emergence, implications, and challenges of Australia’s de facto war on nicotine.
Read the paper here:
https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1186/s12954-025-01163-6
Professor Michael Siegel interview
Professor Siegel went silent on tobacco harm reduction for a while, but is now back, using blog posts and media appearances to combat persistent misinformation around vapes. This fascinating interview asks him about his mission and its enemies
Read the interview here:
Leading Pro-Vape Academic “Couldn’t Stand on the Sidelines Any Longer”
Something to watch:
Dr. Jonathan Foulds, Professor of Public Health Sciences and Psychiatry at Penn State University, discusses the contradictions at the heart of public health’s approach to nicotine, and the scientific evidence behind vaping and nicotine pouches
ETHRA partner Claude Bamberger discusses French proposals to ban single use disposable vapes.
