EU Greece Considering Banning Flavored E-cigarettes

According to the Euractiv news report on April 23rd: Implementing strict measures against tobacco marketing that is friendly to children might now be of greater political significance for Athens.

According to Euractiv, the Greek conservative government is preparing a bill to ban all flavored alternative tobacco products, leaving only natural tobacco and mint-flavored tobacco products.
Overall, Athens opposes stricter regulations on alternative tobacco products and views them as traditional cigarettes.
The draft law will remove special flavors popular among teenagers, such as chocolate, cookies, watermelons, and whisky, from the market and crack down on an industry employing approximately 10,000 employees, including 2,000 professional retailers.
A source added that the bill is currently in the "final stage of internal negotiations", but it is unclear whether the flavor ban will be retained in the final text.
Not everyone agrees.
Legally speaking, implementing a complete ban is not easy as it requires the approval of the European Commission and may take up to six months.
But in reality, given that previous measures have not worked, taking more radical actions might be more meaningful for Athens. According to the latest European Barometer, over 35% of the population is still smoking.
An industry insider said: "A complete ban is meaningless as it will also punish adult consumers." They explained that in other countries such as the UK, flavored products are still on the market and are promoted as tools to help adult smokers quit traditional cigarettes.
Meanwhile, the Electronic Cigarette Trade Association warned in a letter to the government that a complete ban on electronic cigarettes would lead to 400,000 e-cigarette users turning to an "uncontrollable" black market. Euractiv saw this letter.
However, seven EU countries have already imposed flavor bans, including Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Hungary.
EU level
When Athens took this action, member states were increasingly divided over whether the Commission should re-examine tobacco-related legislation (such as advertising, taxation, and product directives).
The share of electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco, and nicotine pouches in the EU market has significantly increased, putting increasing regulatory pressure on EU policymakers.
Several member states such as the Netherlands and Spain demanded prompt action, while other countries such as Italy chose to delay action due to concerns that raising taxes would have a negative impact on inflation.