The alarm was raised by the newly re-elected Swedish MEP Charlie Weimers on his first day back in Brussels. “Apparently, Denmark has opened up to a ban on the flavouring of new nicotine products, including nicotine pouches”, he tweeted. “Denmark is trying to pre-empt the Revision of the Tobacco Products Directive expected during this term”.
The European Commission has failed to publish a report on the public consultation about a new Tobacco Products Directive (TPD 2), after President Ursula von der Leyen halted potentially controversial measures ahead of the European Parliament elections and the process of appointing a new Commission. But a public assurance was given earlier this year that the possible revision of the Tobacco Products Directive and what it will cover will depend on the findings of a scientific evaluation and the public consultation, as well as a thorough impact assessment. “The political decisions in this respect will be taken by the next Commission, in light of the above preparatory steps”, a spokesperson said.
But now there is an attempt to get a new policy through before the present Commission ends and before the bodies responsible for European legislation -the Council and the Parliament- can give their views. This would not be the first time the Commission has tried to short-circuit the democratic process. Courts in member states have upheld challenges to domestic legislation that transposed European directives.
Judges found that they went bey.
