Amount according to the country's "wealth": EU wants to make cigarettes significantly more expensive
The EU is planning higher taxes on tobacco, e-cigarettes, and nicotine products. The tobacco industry, however, is angry about the plans from Brussels.
According to a 196-page document obtained by "Bild," the EU Commission intends to raise tobacco prices and is demanding that member states increase tobacco taxes. This will also affect e-cigarettes. The goal, they say, is to reduce healthcare costs and prevent cancer.
According to the EU Commission's plans, the level of taxes should be based on the country's respective wealth. For Germany, this would result in a one-fifth increase in tobacco tax. A pack of cigarettes would become one euro more expensive. "We expect a 20 percent increase in cigarette prices. This must be stopped urgently," said the President of the European Taxpayers' Association, Michael Jäger (62).
The tobacco industry is angered by the plans from Brussels. " Health protection must not become a pretext for destroying reliable tax models and the livelihoods of small and medium-sized businesses," says Michael von Foerster, president of the German Smoking Tobacco Industry Association.
The EU Commission intends to adopt the draft by mid-July.
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