The EU has still not managed to find a common position for the WHO meeting on the tobacco convention that starts next week. In practice, this means that the EU delegation will not vote in favour or against any new proposals to change the convention during the meeting.
There have been many twists and turns around COP11 in recent months. Ever since it became clear that the European Commission wanted to take a very hard line, with everything from banning cigarette filters and stopping support to European tobacco farmers to flavour bans for e-cigs and nicotine pouches on the agenda. At the same time, several countries have been actively working towards a more moderate stance.
In addition to the European Commission, Commissioners from the Netherlands, France and Belgium are in favour of a more aggressive ban.
In contrast, Italy, Greece and Sweden take a more market-friendly approach, focusing on regulation and promoting harm reduction through products such as e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches.
The strategy did not work
The ideological conflict around harm minimisation has not been resolved, despite the Danish Presidency's attempt to broker a compromise whereby demands for a more comprehensive ban via the Tobacco Convention would not affect the upcoming revision of the European Tobacco Products Directive. According to several sources with insight into the negotiations, this approach has not worked very well.
“Of course, this is not how the tobacco convention works. If the Convention is rewritten and starts recommending restrictions on flavourings and bans on nicotine pouches, it will obviously be used as a stick against those who want to see more harm reduction in the EU market,” says Peter Beckett, editor of Clearing The Air magazine, which monitors and analyses EU policy on e-cigarettes and smokeless nicotine.
No common position
According to Euroactive magazine, the Commission and the Danish Presidency will make a last-ditch attempt to unite the parties this Friday. If this fails, the EU will not have a common position for the tobacco convention meeting either.
“The EU bloc usually has a strong position within its region. Without a common position, the EU bloc risks losing credibility also in the future,” Euroactive notes.
