The EU just cut its proposed pouch tax. It’s still not enough.

A week ago, the EU’s draft tax on nicotine pouches would have reached €80 per kilo by 2032. Now it’s down to €50. That happened because Sweden said no.

On Monday 26 October, national tax officials met in Brussels to discuss the EU’s revised tobacco tax directive. The same day, the Irish presidency of the EU Council put forward a new compromise text, reported by TobaccoIntelligence. The proposed minimum tax on pouches now looks like this:

• 2028 to 2029: €30 per kilo, still under negotiation
• 2030 to 2031: €40 per kilo, down from €50
• Final rate: €50 per kilo, down from €80

The minimum for other nicotine products stays at €80 per kilo.

Sweden’s pressure is working

EU tax rules need every member state to agree. That gives a single country the power to block the whole package, and Sweden has been using it.

This summer, Sweden blocked an earlier attempt to set a minimum tax on pouches. Its government has called the proposed treatment of pouches unacceptable. And on the same day the new text was circulated, an EU official told Law360 that Sweden was set to oppose the bill when finance ministers meet on 9 November.

The presidency’s own explanation for the cut says it all: it lowered the rates so that every member state would be able to accept the text. In plain terms, the EU moved because Sweden didn’t.

There’s a second win in the new text. For the first time in this process, pouches would have a lower minimum tax than other nicotine products. That’s the principle Sweden has been defending all along: different products carry different risks, so they shouldn’t all be taxed the same way.

Still almost three times Sweden’s rate

But a smaller increase is still an increase. Sweden taxes pouches at around €18 per kilo today, according to POLITICO’s released draft. The new final rate would still be almost three times that.

Sweden also has the lowest smoking rate in the EU. According to CAN, Sweden’s alcohol and drug research body, just 3.7% of Swedes smoked daily in 2025. Price matters when a smoker is deciding whether to switch, and every euro added to the smoke-free option narrows the gap with cigarettes.

What happens next

EU finance ministers meet on 9 November, where the Irish presidency hopes to reach a deal. It isn’t guaranteed. Any member state can still block it, and whether the lower rates are enough for Sweden is now the question.

Our view

We oppose taxing the smoke-free alternative as if it were the problem.

Sweden pushed back, and the EU moved. Now it should go all the way. Tax nicotine by risk. Keep pouches affordable. And keep the smoke-free option within reach for adults who want to switch.