BRUSSELS / Health ministers from the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, France, Hungary, Latvia, Slovenia and Spain sent a joint letter to EU Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi. It lands as the EU reviews its tobacco and tobacco advertising directives.
Their asks: let member states go as far as a total pouch ban; freeze new nicotine products from entering the market; cap nicotine levels; ban most flavors; require plain packaging; ban advertising for nicotine products, including influencer content; and stop cross-border online sales within the EU.
Why it matters
It’s a request, not a law, but it shows where the strictest European governments want to go. For non-nicotine brands, the key line is that the freeze would also cover nicotine-free products made to look like nicotine ones.
What’s next
The Commission opened a public consultation on the directives on May 22, 2026, and hasn’t set a date for its proposal.