Four times Sweden’s tax: inside the EU’s new plan for nicotine pouches

A new EU compromise on tobacco and nicotine taxes has landed, and nicotine pouches are right in the middle of it.

The text was prepared by the Irish presidency of the Council of the EU for a meeting of national tax officials on 26 October. POLITICO obtained it. We’ve read it. Here’s what it says, and why it matters for every adult in Europe who uses pouches.

What the draft says

For the first time, the EU would set a minimum tax on nicotine pouches in every member state. It would be phased in:

• 2028 to 2029: at least €30 per kilo, or 10% of the retail price
• 2030 to 2031: at least €50 per kilo, or 25%
• From 2032: at least €80 per kilo, or 50%

Those pouch figures are still in square brackets in the draft, which means they haven’t been agreed yet.

For comparison, Sweden, the country with the lowest smoking rate in the EU, taxes pouches at around €18 per kilo today, according to POLITICO. By 2032, the EU minimum would be more than four times that.

How the EU tries to justify it

The draft gives its reasoning in black and white. It says products like nicotine pouches have become popular, especially among young people, and that they can open the way to smoking.

That’s the core of the disagreement. In Sweden, the trend has gone the other way. As smoke-free products became common, smoking fell. According to CAN, Sweden’s alcohol and drug research body, just 3.7% of Swedes smoked daily in 2025.

Price matters when someone is deciding whether to switch. Push up the cost of the smoke-free option, and the reason to leave cigarettes behind gets weaker.

What it means if you travel

The package also changes the rules for carrying pouches between EU countries. A second draft directive sets a guide level of 280 grams of pouches for personal use.

It goes further. It would let countries that ban a product, like France does with pouches, charge excise duty on pouches that travelers bought legally elsewhere. And the presidency has deleted a line that would have let travelers prove that larger amounts were genuinely for their own use.

Why Sweden holds the key

EU tax rules need every member state to agree. That gives Sweden a veto.

Sweden’s government has called it unacceptable for the EU to require pouches to be taxed at the same level as certain forms of smoking tobacco. Back in June, Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson was blunter: “We’re going to stop the EU raising the tax on snuff!” And Sweden has reportedly said it isn’t prepared to approve the latest text.

There’s a complication. Sweden still has no new government after its September election. Ulf Kristersson is leading a caretaker government, and talks to form a new one are ongoing. EU finance ministers postponed their vote to November to give Stockholm time.

What should happen

We don’t oppose taxing nicotine. We oppose taxing the smoke-free alternative that helps adult people quit smoking and live healthier lives as if it were a problem.

A fair EU tax would follow one principle: the less harmful the product, the lower the tax. That keeps the alternatives within reach for adults who want to switch.

Sweden has shown what that approach can achieve. In November, the rest of the EU should listen.