E-cigarettes “undoubtedly” reduce risks compared to traditional cigarettes and have a place in the EU’s plan to fight cancer.
However, these products should not enjoy “lighter” regulation and Europe should treat them with the same vigilance as tobacco products, MEP Michèle Rivasi told EURACTIV in an interview.
“I see no reason why the electronic cigarette and its products should benefit from tax reductions or exemptions,” she said.
Michèle Rivasi is a French EU lawmaker from the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance (Europe Écologie) of the European Parliament.
According to you, how should electronic cigarettes be treated in EU law? Should they be treated just like other tobacco products / traditional smoking?
I will say “yes, but… “. The electronic cigarette is a product that must be treated with the same level of vigilance as tobacco products, whilst being adapted to its specificities. This is the difficulty of this range of products that appeared about fifteen years ago. For us, the Greens, if the use of electronic cigarettes is claimed to be an alternative to tobacco, as a substitute product or as a way of reducing the ravages associated with conventional cigarettes – which kill half the people who use them and which are responsible in Europe for a quarter of cancer deaths, let us remember! – we need to consider electronic cigarettes as a medical device, in the same way as gum or patches are pharmaceutical products.
Sarantis Michalopoulos – EURACTIV.com – 2021-05-07.
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