{"id":5495,"date":"2025-12-17T17:41:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T16:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jtieuaffairs.brussels\/?p=5495"},"modified":"2025-12-17T22:50:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T21:50:21","slug":"to-tax-a-category-to-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jtieuaffairs.brussels\/index.php\/2025\/12\/17\/to-tax-a-category-to-death\/","title":{"rendered":"To tax a category to death"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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home page <\/a>\u2190 Buzz@Bruss! Edition #7 \u2190 To tax a category to death\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The European Commission\u2019s revised Tobacco Excise Tax Directive (TED) has the potential to strike a balance between public health goals, smooth functioning of the market, and fiscal stability. Instead, by proposing a minimum excise duty for nicotine pouches seven times higher than Sweden\u2019s rate, it has managed to score a classic own goal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Smoke-free alternatives, such as nicotine pouches, offer adult smokers a viable option to avoid the health risks linked to inhaling smoke from burning tobacco. But harm reduction only works when these alternatives are both accessible and appealing to the consumer. By proposing an excessive minimum tax rate, the Commission seems to be willingly undermining this very principle. Make no mistake, imposing this move could effectively kill the category, drastically narrow consumer choice and, in doing so, jeopardize the EU\u2019s own strategies to reduce smoking-related harm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Ironically, the Commission\u2019s own impact assessments emphasize that harmonizing excise taxation should improve public health, ensure market stability, and prevent fraud. Yet the proposed tax rate on nicotine pouches would likely push consumer prices so high that it discourages the use of lower-risk alternatives. Worse still, the tax hike could open the door to unregulated markets, exposing consumers to potentially unsafe, illegal products \u2013 precisely alienating those trying to quit smoking and adopt safer nicotine choices.<\/p>

This approach becomes even more perplexing in the face of Sweden\u2019s noteworthy example. Sweden is the only EU Member State with a smoking rate below 5%, thanks to giving smokers access to oral nicotine products, supported by a moderate tax rate. TED, however, appears to disregard this success, and from a neutral observer\u2019s perspective, seems intent on eliminating the very category that contributed to Sweden\u2019s progress. It\u2019s no surprise that Sweden has spoken out against the proposal.<\/p>

The path forward is clear: a more progressive approach to EU-wide minimum rates that allows consumers to consider alternatives such as nicotine pouches and their reduced-risk profile. This approach would not only deliver stable fiscal revenues and maintain market equilibrium but also support harm reduction.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Buzz@Bruss!<\/b><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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#7<\/b><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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more articles<\/b><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Why the TED proposal risks more harm than good\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a0<\/span>Killing the golden goose\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a0<\/span>Not all clouds are equal<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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home page \u2190 Buzz@Bruss! Edition #7 \u2190 To tax a category to death\u00a0 The European Commission\u2019s revised Tobacco Excise Tax Directive (TED) has the potential to strike a balance between public health goals, smooth functioning of the market, and fiscal stability. Instead, by proposing a minimum excise duty for nicotine pouches seven times higher than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-5495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-classe","tag-7_a"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jtieuaffairs.brussels\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jtieuaffairs.brussels\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jtieuaffairs.brussels\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jtieuaffairs.brussels\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jtieuaffairs.brussels\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5495"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/jtieuaffairs.brussels\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5577,"href":"https:\/\/jtieuaffairs.brussels\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5495\/revisions\/5577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jtieuaffairs.brussels\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jtieuaffairs.brussels\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jtieuaffairs.brussels\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}