Smoking EU

From the BBC:

"Tough EU smoking rules approved"

Anti-smoking legislation is to be introduced across the European Union in an attempt to cut the number of smokers by 2.4 million.  The rules, voted in by the European Parliament, mean picture health warnings will have to dominate the front and back of all packaging. There will also be a ban on flavoured, such as menthol, cigarettes. Pro-smoking groups have criticised a "nanny state mentality", but cancer charities have backed the measures. An estimated 700,000 premature deaths are caused by smoking across the EU each year.

 

The EU Tobacco Products Directive rules include:

• picture warnings must cover 65% of the front and back of every packet of cigarettes, with additional warnings on the top of the pack
• a ban on "lipstick-style" packs aimed at women - all packs must have at least 20 cigarettes to leave room for health warnings
• roll-your-own tobacco packs to have similar picture warnings
• a ban on promotional elements, such saying "this product is free of additives" or is less harmful than other brands
• a ban on flavoured cigarettes, such as menthol, fruit and vanilla
• a maximum nicotine-concentration level for e-cigarettes.
• EU-wide tracking of cigarettes to combat illegal trade

Ministers are expected to endorse the rules in March, to come into force in May 2014. Member states will have two years to introduce the legislation. The European Commission says the new rules will "deter young people from experimenting with, and becoming addicted to, tobacco" and should lead to a 2% drop in the amount smoked over the next five years.  EU Health Commissioner Tonio Borg said: "Today is a great day for EU health policy.  "The new rules will help to reduce the number of people who start smoking in the EU.  "These measures put an end to products which entice children and teenagers into starting to smoke in the European Union." Simon Clark, the director of the pro-smoking campaign group Forest, said banning menthol cigarettes was a ban on consumer choice that "will do little" to deter children from smoking. He also questioned the need for plain packaging legislation to remove any branding from packs, which is being considered in some EU countries, including the UK.  "If health warnings are going to be even more prominent, dominating both sides of the pack, why on Earth do we need plain packaging?" he asked.

^ I don't see these new rules having any effect on the number of smokers in the EU - especially in those Eastern European countries that are part of the EU where smoking is a way of life. It does seem that the EU tries to "tackle" these little issues rather than focusing on the major issues (like budget concerns, immigration, human rights, corruption, etc.) ^

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-26355419