Brussels has circulated a revised, less combative, compromise proposal for a unified EU position on the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
It was distributed ahead of the upcoming 11th Conference of the Parties (COP11) running from November 17 to 22 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The document, sent to delegates on October 27 and seen by Brussels Signal, represents a softening from an earlier, more aggressive draft that alarmed harm-reduction advocates and raised fears of sweeping bans or tax hikes on vaping and other nicotine alternatives.
Aimed at forging consensus among the EU’s 27 nations, the new text tempers language on contentious issues such as potential prohibitions on cigarette filters and strict measures against e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products and nicotine pouches.
Where the initial draft explicitly urged “strong regulation or potential bans” on these products, framing them as gateways to addiction rather than smoking cessation tools, the latest version adopts a more measured tone.
It emphasises evidence-based approaches and balanced public-health considerations, calling for the “taking into account [of] the specific approaches and policies of individual parties”.
This shift reflects lobbying from member states wary of overreach, as well as broader debates on tobacco harm reduction principles embedded in the FCTC itself.
The original leaked document drew sharp criticism for its hawkish rhetoric. It proposed extending tobacco-style restrictions — including flavour bans, stringent packaging rules and environmental curbs — to all non-combustible nicotine products, including those without tobacco content.
Now, the EU is calling for bans or restrictions on aggressive advertising, promotion and sponsorship. It urges that alternative products be strictly regulated based on scientific evidence, impact assessments and the precautionary principle. It stops short, though, of labelling the products “extremely harmful” as some officials had previously done.
The compromise also waters down other proposals.
Earlier calls for outright bans on filters, described as potentially misleading design features, have been reframed as a “consideration of regulatory options” under Articles 9 and 10 of the FCTC, which govern product contents and emissions.
The text now stresses the need for scientific validation before any action, avoiding prescriptive language.
Provisions targeting vaping and similar devices have been softened from demands for “comprehensive bans” to recommendations for “proportionate regulation” that recognise dual-use dynamics, where smokers transition to less harmful alternatives, while maintaining youth protections.
Flavour restrictions remain possible but are now subject to national discretion, a concession to countries such as Sweden, where snus and pouches have contributed to record-low smoking rates.
Support for reducing single-use plastics in tobacco products, including filters and related materials, remains. Yet the proposal scales back ambitions for binding global mandates, favouring non-binding “guidelines to encourage sustainable practices” instead.
Despite this moderation, the current draft continues to dismiss harm reduction as an “industry narrative” and treats vapes, pouches and heated tobacco as public health risks that could warrant additional taxation.
Swedish Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson has come out aggressively against Brussels’ new Tobacco Tax Directive, calling it “completely unacceptable”. https://t.co/3PviVi2n24
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 10, 2025
These revisions mark a pragmatic recalibration that leaves room for national autonomy.
With COP11, the EU is moving to finalise its stance.
The toning down follows widespread alarm over the original draft’s leak, which reverberated across the continent.
Advocacy groups such as the World Vapers’ Alliance condemned the earlier version as a “senseless nicotine war”, urging member states to reject what they called an anti-science agenda.
Within the EU, commentators such as Clive Bates, director of The Counterfactual, which mostly focuses on nicotine vaping as an alternative to smoking, cautioned that such policies risked pushing users back to combustible cigarettes, undermining the treaty’s central goal of reducing tobacco-related deaths.
The European Union’s long-awaited review of the Tobacco Products Directive is now expected to conclude in mid-2026, yet another delay in one of the bloc’s most contentious health programmes. https://t.co/M0JfBWwyqR
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 15, 2025
