On Tuesday 8 October, the European Parliament voted on the Tobacco Products Directive. The Parliament approved the text although the Commission’s original proposal was changed in several ways.
With the approved text, cigarette packs will contain health warnings covering 65 percent of the package surface. Flavouring, such as menthol and fruit, will be banned as will packages containing less than 20 cigarettes. Regarding e-cigarettes, the Parliament voted in favour of regulating them as medicinal products only if they claim to have preventative and curative properties.
In the proposal from the European Commission, health warnings on tobacco products were suggested to cover 75 percent of the package and all e-cigarettes were to be regulated as medicinal products. A complete ban of slim cigarettes was also suggested.
A first reading of the proposal will now be negotiated with the EU ministers, the proposal can then be approved by the Council and the Parliament. For more information, please see here.
