Smokers in the Crosshairs of the EU! Cigarettes and Co. – Is the EU now banning everything?

Brussels is now targeting all smokers! Comprehensive new bans are now threatening throughout Europe.

What exactly is it about?
The EU wants to create a “tobacco-free generation” by 2040. This means a smoking rate of less than 5%! The reason given is the health risks posed by passive smoking and aerosols, especially for children, pregnant women and the elderly.

Smoking should disappear from public spaces in the future.

The proposal, which is now up for a vote in the European Parliament, probably next Thursday, November 28, 2024, proposes extending the smoking ban to almost all places of public life, such as parks, Christmas markets, outdoor areas of restaurants and bars, café terraces, near public buildings, beaches - the possible list is long.

Health protection or “free reign” for smokers?
The EU Commission's goals are, as always, well-founded, as it is about people's health. You can't disagree with that, can you? Yes, says the Taxpayers Association of Europe (TAE)! Because there is neither an impact assessment of the law as to how this will affect the companies and institutions affected financially or whether this ban is even proportionate, nor is there a concrete proposal as to how this all-encompassing ban should be implemented in practice, as the proposal leaves that open.

As important as protecting health is, the legitimate question remains whether a general ban is the right way to go? Because a ban without punishment makes no sense! In the future, for example, will the restaurant owner have to ensure that no one smokes in front of his restaurant - whether guests or passers-by? Who pays or is liable if they violate the law? Does the owner then have to inform the police or the responsible public order office? Or would it be best to set up national or regional "smoking reporting centres" where people can report the problem anonymously? Will the public order office then issue tickets for smoking cigarettes/e-cigarettes on park benches?

I have real horror scenarios in my head. First, we protect people from smoking, then from alcohol, from sugary foods, from unhealthy fatty foods like burgers, kebabs, currywurst, ice cream and all other things that could be bad for your health. Big Brother says hello! What could happen now is grist to the mill for the EU's critics!

Funny or bizarre from a German point of view, the “ban ultimately applies to everything that smokes”, i.e. cigarettes, heats, etc. and consequently also to cannabis, which has just been legalized in Germany.

As far as we know, the Parliament in Strasbourg wants to decide on this next week, most likely next Thursday. It could well be that further proposals will be pulled out of the drawer.

Better regulation and reducing bureaucracy?
The topic of several meetings that we from the Taxpayers' Association of Europe attended in Brussels from 18 to 20 November was " Better Regulation and Reducing Bureaucracy ". However, this proposal seems far away from that.

Education and prevention as well as more consistency in stopping subsidies
If the EU wants to tackle the issue of smoking in a targeted manner, then we believe that the first step should be to provide more and better information, especially to children and young people.

Then we should also ensure that tobacco cultivation in European regions is no longer promoted (see WHO report 2023 ).

According to Statista, Germany alone had tobacco tax revenues of 14.7 billion Euros in 2023. On top of that, there is the revenue from VAT on tobacco products. In general, it can be said that the revenue from tobacco tax is at the top of the revenue from excise taxes in almost all EU countries. So, this would have to be taken into account in the regulatory impact assessment! But that doesn't happen!

Another problem is the loss of tax revenue in the area of tobacco tax in the EU. The EU Commission should pay more attention to this (see KMPG Report September 2024 ). Around 11.6 billion Euros in tax revenue is lost in the EU every year!

Illegal trade and tax losses have been an issue for years, but nothing has really been done about it!

Conclusion
The bureaucratic mill in Brussels continues to turn mercilessly!

Now smokers are being targeted! Protection of children and young people, yes, but please do so sensibly! Because a Europe-wide ban would also have to be monitored and violations punished, which will never work.

The EU must finally stop trying to regulate every aspect of our lives and feel responsible for everything and everywhere!

Because we citizens pay the price through the loss of our freedom.

What comes next? Because there are many other things that are harmful to health.

This policy is also downright hypocritical, because the billions in tobacco tax revenues are still being gladly accepted to finance public budgets, so these revenues should also be used entirely for prevention and damage control as well as structural adjustments!

Brussel/Munich, November 25, 2024
Michael Jaeger