ETHRA’s monthly roundup of news: EU COP11 position - Tobacco Taxation - ETHRA writes to SANT - UK 20 is Plenty Campaign - Is Vaping a Gateway to Smoking? - COP-11: a survival guide for delegates - E-Cigarettes in Historical Context - Anti-Vaping Advocate Misrepresenting Science - Country updates. Read on for more.
Contents:
EU Common Position for COP11
Brussels Signal reports that the language around the EU Common position has somewhat softened. Rather than calling for outright bans on vape flavours and nicotine pouches, the new language urges that safer nicotine products should be strictly regulated based on scientific evidence, impact assessments and the precautionary principle.
Read more here:
https://brusselssignal.eu/2025/10/eu-softens-tone-on-smoking-products-ahead-of-who-cop11/
The UK government has pledged to back tobacco harm reduction and vaping at the World Health Organization’s COP11 next month.
Read more here:
https://daily-pouch.com/uk-backs-vaping-cop11-geneva
Tobacco Taxation Directive consultation
A public consultation on the revised Taxation Directive closed on 31 October. If approved by all 27 EU Member States, taxation on safer nicotine products would be included in the Directive, adding a significant amount of expense to low-risk alternatives to smoking. The consultation closed with 18613 submissions, including one from ETHRA.
Read our submission here:
https://ethra.co/submissions/178-tobacco-taxation-proposal-for-a-council-directive
The Commission presented its proposal to update the rules regarding the structure and minimum rates of excise duty applied to tobacco and tobacco-related products in the EU (the Tobacco Taxation Directive) at the Economic and Financial Affairs Council on 10 October.
Watch the presentation from Commissioner Hoekstra followed by statements from Member States here:
https://video.consilium.europa.eu/event/en/28150
Bulgaria
A Bill amending the Law on Tobacco, Tobacco and Related Products has been adopted by parliament. The new Bill bans disposable vapes and the sale of nicotine pouches with a nicotine above 20mg per pouch.
See the Bill here (Bulgarian):
https://www.parliament.bg/en/bills/ID/166050
France
France’s National Assembly Finance Committee voted against the government’s plan to tax vaping products at €0.30/10mL for low-nicotine liquids (<15mg/ml) and €0.50/10mL for liquids with a nicotine content above 15mg/ml. However, the Committee voted in favour of an online sales ban.
Read more here:
https://www.2firsts.com/news/french-national-assembly-budget-committee-rejects-e-liquid-tax-proposal-online-sales-ban-approved-eu-plans-unified-tax-on-e-cigarette-products-from-2028
Add your name to this petition in opposition to the vape tax:
https://www.change.org/p/vaper-n-est-pas-fumer-lettre-%C3%A0-nos-%C3%A9lus
Ireland
On 1 November Ireland’s controversial tax on vapes came into force. The tax will add 0.50c per ml of e-liquid to vaping products, regardless of nicotine content. NNA Ireland called the tax a retrograde step which will result in a rise in black market products and a return to smoking. It will discourage people from switching and maintain the market advantage of combustible cigarettes.
Read more here:
https://nnai510701598.wordpress.com/2025/10/15/new-taxes-as-applied-to-vaping-products/
Ireland Is Failing at Smoking Cessation. Now It Will Tax Vapes Hard.
Luxembourg
Luxembourg has adopted a new Bill which bans all flavours in heated tobacco products. The Bill also regulates nicotine pouches in line with combustible tobacco and imposes a nicotine cap of 0.048 mg per pouch or per gram.
Read more here:
https://delano.lu/article/luxembourg-regulates-nicotine-pouches
Portugal
The Portuguese government has decided to regulate and tax nicotine pouches starting in 2026, with a tax of €0.065 per gram.
Read more here:
https://as.com/actualidad/sociedad/portugal-se-separa-de-espana-en-el-plan-de-las-bolsas-de-nicotina-para-acabar-con-el-cigarrillo-f202510-n/
Norway
In response to a consultation on banning vapes in Norway senior researchers at the Norwegian Institute Of Public Health (FHI), Karl Erik Lund and Tord Finne Vedøy, said that a ban risks unintended consequences such as illegal sales, loss of market control, reduced consumer safety and lost tax revenue.
Read the response here (Norwegian):
https://www.regjeringen.no/no/dokumenter/horing-forslag-til-endringer-i-tobakksskadeloven/id3114303/?uid=4d07940c-cb27-4442-9c0a-411f0794524f
UK
A new campaign to fight for proper regulation of nicotine pouches – including strength caps and a ban on advertising to children – has been launched. Consumers are being urged to support the 20IsPlenty campaign which aims to protect access to pouches and a nicotine cap of 20mg.
Access the website here:
https://20isplenty.co.uk/
ETHRA writes to SANT
On Wednesday 5 November the European Parliament’s Committee on Public Health (SANT) met to discuss a range of topics including the EU’s cardiovascular strategy. Ahead of that meeting ETHRA wrote to all members of SANT to share our submission to the EU Cardiovascular Health Plan Call for Evidence.
See the submission here:
https://ethra.co/submissions/176-eu-cardiovascular-health-plan-call-for-evidence
The exchange of views is available here:
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/sant/home/highlights
FCTC COP-11 – a survival guide for delegates
Clive Bates provides briefings and observations to support delegates participating in COP-11. Bates suggests to delegates that: “the biggest and most practical idea by far is to make nicotine use much safer. This can be achieved by shifting usage from high-risk to low-risk nicotine products”.
Read more here:
https://clivebates.com/cop11/
E-Cigarettes in Historical Context—Innovation, Risk, and Regulation
An Article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) states that: ”There are arguably extremely negative unintended effects from not allowing safer technology to compete against cigarettes. In lower-key but similar ways, vape taxes and other restrictions may also impede consumer access, which risks increasing smoking"
Read the article here:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2840026
Prominent Anti-Vaping Advocate is Misrepresenting Scientific Evidence
Serial harm reduction denier, Professor Stanton Glantz, claimed in a recent slide show that: “There is now a large scientific literature that, in fact, e-cigarettes increase rather than reduce harm”. In this excellent blog post Dr Michael Siegel dismantles his arguments point by point.
Read more here:
https://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com/2025/10/prominent-anti-vaping-advocate-is.html
Something to watch:
Is Vaping E-Cigarettes a Gateway to Smoking, and Does Vaping Predict Smoking? Floe Foxon discusses the science behind gateway claims and what the evidence actually tells us.