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.
The next European Commission should enhance its collaboration with the EU’s Scientific Advisory Mechanism (SAM), which would provide bias-free consultancy and eventually adjust the Tobacco Product Directive to the reality, JTI’s Ramunas Macius said in an interview with EURACTIV.com.
Stricter rules on smoking, reimbursed anti-smoking programmes and smoke-free public places are among the ways to prevent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) from being a public health crisis, says Mikaela Odemyr.
Progress has been made on tobacco products health warnings but the next round of graphic labelling should also mention the less-known chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which happens to be the second cause of death worldwide, MEP Karin Kadenbach told EURACTIV.com.
Member states should prioritise laws that protect public health because there is little value in having them if they are not enforced, the EU's health Commissioner told EURACTIV.com in an interview.
Cigarette smuggling costs national and EU budgets more than €10 billion annually in lost public revenue and is a major source of organised crime, including terrorism, Margarete Hofmann told Euractiv in an interview.
The European Union and its member states should pressure Belarus to combat the trade in illicit tobacco and adopt a “stick and carrot” approach with sanctions if necessary, Czech MEP Tomáš Zdechovský told EURACTIV.com.
The Commissioner for health and consumer affairs tells EURACTIV that the horsemeat scandal should be seen for what it is: a fraud rather than a flaw in the regulation. He favours introducing tougher penalties for such incidents, but believes food labelling should be kept as a separate issue.
A new report on the crime effects of smoking demonstrates that there would be an increase in counterfeit cigarettes, smuggling, and hard-line new rules could be counter-productive, argues Milan-based professor Ernesto Savona.
European institutions in Brussels could learn from advertisers in better promoting the benefits of EU membership to citizens, argues Gary Leih, CEO of Ogilvy UK and President of the European Association of Communication Agencies (EACA) in an interview with EURACTIV.
Markos Kyprianou told EURACTIV that promoting healthy lifestyles and mental health, as well as ensuring food safety, would be among his priorities as commissioner for health and consumer protection. He added that it was his ambition to have smoking bans introduced in all member states by the end of his term.
