Leaked negotiating documents from the Council of the European Union’s Danish Presidency have exposed a controversial bid by the Danish Government and the European Commission to impose new tobacco rules.
In it, restrictions or outright bans on novel nicotine and tobacco products, including vapes, heated tobacco devices, and nicotine pouches, are floated.
A leaked draft of a Council position, seen by Brussels Signal on November 21, appears to sidestep a lack of consensus among EU member states, raising alarms over potential violations of the bloc’s decision-making protocols.
Noted as agenda item 4.5 and marked “FCTC/COP11/CONF/5(a)”, the text proposes binding restrictions, including outright prohibitions, on novel and emerging nicotine products at the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (COP11) in Geneva.
This stance, reportedly co-engineered by the EC and quietly pushed by Danish diplomats in Geneva, persists despite the EU’s failure to forge a common position and the unprecedented decision for a bloc-wide abstention from COP11 votes just days ago.
Under EU treaties, Council decisions on health policy require qualified majority voting or unanimity for sensitive issues, but Denmark’s unilateral push risks bypassing these safeguards.
This Danish lobbying, reportedly backed by EC input, risks imposing de facto bindings via the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Conference of the Parties (FCTC) commitments. They also run contrary to national harm-reduction successes.
The Danish health ministry frames it as advancing the “Beating Cancer Plan” against youth uptake, citing WHO “aerosol risk” data.
The draft builds on a Brazilian-led proposal while incorporating EU-specific amendments.
It categorically rejects the possible effects of harm-reduction, despite the scientific community being divided on the issue. A large number of scientists and studies claim that harm reduction and alternative products offer significant health gains.
On November 18, independent platform Firebreak published an analysis showing that more than half of the NGOs accredited to attend the FCTC conference owe their existence to Michael Bloomberg.
Global Action on Tobacco Control, one of those Bloomberg-financed NGOs, has reportedly falsely claimed that there is no evidence that e-cigarettes help people stop smoking, the pro harm-reduction site Clearing the Air said.
European countries including Sweden, Greece and Czechia — where harm-reduction policies have led to significant declines in smoking rates — oppose outright bans, arguing such measures would undermine public health progress and consumer choice.
On the other hand, a group of “progressive” member states, including France and Ireland, supports stricter regulations or bans.
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
