The basic legislative act is

• Council Directive 2011/64/EU of 21 June 2011 on the structure and rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco (codification). This Directive
  
  • defines the various categories of manufactured tobacco (cigarettes, fine cut tobacco intended for the rolling of cigarettes, cigars and cigarillos, other smoking tobacco)
  • lays down the general principles governing taxation of manufactured tobacco
  • provides for an overall minimum excise duty of 57% of the weighted average retail selling price of cigarettes
  • provides for a minimum amount of excise duty of 64 Euro per 1000 cigarettes irrespective of the weighted average retail selling price
  • determines the minimum rates for fine cut smoking tobacco intended for the rolling of cigarettes, namely 40% of the weighted average retail selling price or 40 Euro per kilogram
  • determines the minimum rates for cigars and cigarillos, namely 5% of the retail selling price inclusive of all taxes or 12 Euro per 100 items or per kilogram
  • determines the minimum rates for other smoking tobaccos, namely 20% of the retail selling price inclusive of all taxes, or 22 Euro per kilogram.
• This Directive repealed
  
  • Council Directive 95/59/EC of 27 November 1995 on taxes other than turnover taxes which affect the consumption of manufactured tobacco
  • Council Directive 92/79/EEC of 19 October 1992 on the approximation of taxes on cigarettes
  • Council Directive 92/80/EEC of 19 October 1992 on the approximation of taxes on manufactured tobacco other than cigarettes

as amended by the Directives listed in Annex I, Part A without prejudice to the obligations of the Member States relating to the time limits for transposition into national law and application of the Directives set out in Annex I, Part B (see Article 21 of Council Directive 2011/64/EU).

• According to this Directive, Member States have to apply to cigarettes a specific excise duty per unit of the product and a proportional excise duty calculated on the basis of the weighted average retail selling price. Furthermore, Member States may choose between either an ad valorem duty, or a specific duty or a mixture of both on manufactured tobacco other than cigarettes.

Brief history of the EU legislation in the area of tobacco taxation

Council Directives 92/79/EEC, 92/80/EEC and 95/59/EC were last amended by Council Directive 2002/10/EC of 12 February 2002 as regards the structure and rates of excise duty applied on manufactured tobacco and by Council Directive 2003/117/EC of 5 December 2003, authorising the French Republic to prolong the application of lower rates of excise duty to tobacco products released for consumption in Corsica, from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2009.

The European Commission on 16 July 2008 presented a Report and a proposal for a Directive to amend the current EU excise duty legislation on tobacco. This Directive was adopted by the Council on 16 February 2010 and published in the Official Journal of the European Union L 50/1 on 27 February 2010 (Council Directive 2010/12/EU). Amongst other matters, it foresaw a gradual increase in the EU minimum taxation levels on cigarettes and fine cut tobacco up to 2014 and 2018 respectively. The Directive also aimed to contribute to reducing tobacco consumption by 10% within the next 5 years.

Further information to the history and background documentation of Council Directive 2010/12/EU can be found here press release (IP/08/1149 ), the frequently asked questions (MEMO/08/506 ), the proposal (COM/2008/459(69 kB) ), the Commission report (COM/2008/460(99 kB) ), former Commissioner Kov&aacute cs’s speech(16 kB) , the presentation(538 kB) , the Impact Assessment (SEC/2008/2266) and its summary (SEC/2008/2267(21 kB) ), and the external study(3.43 Mb) . The EU Council of Ministers on 10 November 2009 reached a political agreement on the draft Directive (See the Council press release).

Due to the fact that the Council Directives 92/79/EEC, 92/80/EEC and 95/59/EC were substantially amended several times and in the interests of clarity and rationality the said Directives have been codified by assembling them in a single act. This single act was adopted by the Council of Ministers on 21 June 2011 and published in the Official Journal of the European Union L 176/24 on 5 July 2011 (Council Directive 2011/64/EU). This Directive entered into force retroactively from 1 January 2011.

No ban on refillable e-cigarettes, for now

Virginia slims wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

MEPs, under pressure from manufacturers and users of e cigarettes, had refused to accept an EU ban on refillable cartridges. But member states are concerned the cartridges are unsafe and had been demanding an EU ban. They are generally worried about the possibility of unknown long term health effects from these new products.

The issue of how to regulate e cigarettes had become so contentious that it threatened to derail the overall reform of EU tobacco rules (see box) in the final weeks of negotiations. Removing e cigarettes entirely from the proposal was being entertained as a solution.

That would have pleased e cigarette enthusiasts, who argue that the product has no place in the legislation because it contains no tobacco.

But a compromise was agreed yesterday which would permit the sale of refillable cartridges no larger than 2 millilitres, while empowering member states to ban specific types of cartridges where justified by safety concerns. If three member states were to adopt a ban on a specific cartridge, the European Commission could unilaterally impose an EU level ban, without approval by Parliament or member states. Manufacturers and users still fear that this could allow bans through the back door on all refillable e cigarettes.

Medicine debate

The conflict over whether e cigarettes should be regulated as general products, preferred by MEPs, or as medicines, preferred by member states, was also resolved with a compromise. EU law will regulate them as general products, but member states may classify them as pharmaceuticals if they wish. A manufacturer can also choose to have its e cigarette authorised as a pharmaceutical. E cigarettes will be limited to a maximum permitted nicotine concentration level per cigarette of 20 mg/ml, roughly equivalent to the amount of nicotine in one pack of regular cigarettes.

The full parliament is expected to vote on the deal in March, followed by a final rubber stamp from health ministers.

The new tobacco products directive

All characterising flavours will be banned, though the menthol flavour will be given a four year derogation until 2020.

Graphic pictorial health warnings covering 65% of the front and back of cigarette packs will be required. Member states can go further and ban branding if they wish.

An EU wide tracking and tracing system will be set up to combat illicit trade of tobacco products. Cross border internet sales will be banned.