News item | 21-03-2025 | 15:32
State Secretary Vincent Karremans (Youth, Sport and Prevention) calls on the European Commission to make EU legislation for VAPES and other Nicotine products much stricter. Tasks that make Vapes attractive for young people must be restricted throughout the EU, problems with online sales between EU countries must be tackled and all vapes on the European market must also be packed neutral. Karremans has taken the initiative to write a letter about this to European Commissioner Várhelyi (Health), who was signed by a total of 12 EU member states.
Action plan against Vapen
The initiative for stricter European legislation for Vapes stems from the action plan against Vapen, published last week. The core of that plan is to reduce illegal trade, start preventing vapen and stopping stimulating vapen. Due to the actions, the popularity of Vapen among young people must decrease. Stricter rules against Vapes throughout the European Union can help enormously to achieve faster results.
The Netherlands first with laws and regulations against VAPES
State Secretary Vincent Karremans (Youth, Sport and Prevention): “Vapen can lead to fierce addiction problems and even lung bleeding. Despite the great health risks Vapet 1 in 7 young people from 12 to 16 years of monthly. We are therefore dealing with a very serious problem against Vapes with laws on Vapes on the front. For the health of our young people that the legislation against Vapes in the entire EU is much stricter so that it is no longer an option across the border with flavors or ordering online. ”
Actively remove social content tobacco and nicotine
In addition to stricter legislation, Karremans and his colleague ministers also ask the European Commission to do more against the sales and marketing of tobacco and nicotine products via social, especially if this is aimed at young people together with social media platforms. These platforms must take more responsibility for such content by actively removing it and preventing it from being uploaded on their channels.
Review in 2025
In Europe, new EU laws and regulations with regard to tobacco, vapes and other nicotine products (such as nicotine bags) have been waiting for some time. The revision of the Tobacco Products Directive would originally be presented in 2024, but now no new date is known. The letter from the 12 Member States (in addition to the Netherlands also Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Belgium, France, Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and Malta) is now insisting on a proposal from the European Commission for the revision of the new Tobacco Products Directive in 2025.