Brussels, 11 June 2026 – Tobacco kills an estimated 700,000 people every year across the European Union. Nicotine addiction has also been associated with an increased risk of mental health issues, including anxiety and depression.
Yet a draft report before the European Parliament risks weakening one of the most effective measures available to reduce tobacco use and prevent nicotine addiction.
A coalition of 10 expert health organisations coordinated by the European Chronic Disease Alliance warns that the report by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) reflects the same flawed arguments long promoted by the tobacco and nicotine industry.
The Parliamentary report argues that newer tobacco and nicotine products should benefit from lower taxation because they’re supposedly less harmful, that they help smokers quit, that higher excise duties fuel illicit trade, and that tobacco taxation should give greater weight to economic considerations.
All the evidence points in the opposite direction. Higher taxes on tobacco and nicotine products reduce consumption, discourage uptake among young people and save lives.
According to the World Health Organization, increasing tobacco excise taxes and prices is the single most effective and cost-effective measure for reducing tobacco use.
‘As a pulmonologist, I see the damage caused by tobacco and nicotine products every day. Overlooking this evidence and echoing arguments long associated with the tobacco industry cannot be allowed to shape European health policy.’
Luis Seijo, Co-Chair of ECO’s Prevention, Early Detection and Screening Network and Director of the Pulmonary Medicine Department at the Clínica Universidad de Navarra
At a time when nicotine use among young people is rising across Europe, the EU should be strengthening measures that reduce tobacco and nicotine consumption, not weakening them.
Ahead of next week’s plenary vote, Members of the European Parliament must reject the ECON report and stand on the side of evidence, prevention and public health.
Briefing – What’s wrong with the ECON tobacco taxation report
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