The biggest EU budget in history so far will be partly paid for by new taxes. Not only on big companies, but also through revenue from new EU-imposed excise duties on smokeless nicotine products. This was made clear after the European Commission presented its long-term budget for 2028 to 2034 to the European Parliament late on Wednesday.
After years of rumours and leaked reports, it became clear that the EU's long-term budget will be based on "new taxes" to harmonise the market for e-cigarettes, e-liquid and other smokeless nicotine products.
"There is currently no harmonised tax for e-liquid. And several member states, 16 finance ministers, have asked the Commission to make a proposal for this. This would apply to all tobacco products, including new products such as e-liquid, nicotine pouches and heat not burn", said EU Commissioner Piotr Serafin in his presentation of the budget to the European Parliament.
Cigarettes and heat-not-burn (e.g. iqos)
Under the proposal, the already EU-controlled taxes on smoking tobacco would be increased to €215 per 1000 cigarettes or 63% of the retail price.
For heat-not-burn products, the new tax will be lower, at €108 per 1000 heatsticks (55% of the retail price).
E-liquids with or without nicotine
For e-liquids with up to 0 to 15 mg nicotine/ml, the tax will be €0.12 per ml or 20% of the retail price. For e-liquids between 15 and 20 mg of nicotine per ml, the tax will be €0.36 per ml or 40% of the retail price.
Nicotine pouches and snuff
For nicotine pouches, a tax of €143 per kilo, or 50% of the retail price, is proposed. Swedish traditional snus is not directly affected by the proposed taxes.
"15 per cent directly to the EU"
According to Politico, countries will have until 2031 to implement the new taxes, if the proposal is approved by a unanimous Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.
"We estimate that 15% of these tax revenues can be used by countries to finance the increased costs in the long-term budget", says Piotr Serafin.
New to tax nicotine-free liquids
As previously revealed by Vejpkollen, the changes that will most affect e-cigarette users in the Nordic countries is that the European Commission wants to tax nicotine-free e-liquids, something that only Finland currently does. The tax will thus affect those who use the lowest nicotine levels and not those who use disposable products, the product considered to drive underage use the most.
Major impact in Sweden
The price of nicotine pouches, which are taxed in all Nordic EU countries, mainly affects users in Sweden (or those who import the pouches from Sweden), where the new mandatory tax is estimated to increase the price of a pouch by almost 20 Swedish crowns (data from Snusbolaget - Sweden's leading retailer).
Link to the current proposal on the new EU tax directive (note PDF).
