World Health Organization

A Plan to Restore Health in the European Union

February 25, 2023

By Sophia Bourque

Many countries in the European Union are concerned with citizens’ health decreasing due to smoking. On Thursday night, in the World Health Organization (WHO) committee meeting, a resolution to increase the tax on cigarettes in the European Union passed 33/9. The resolution was supported by members of the Union such as Sweden, Italy, and Belgium. 

The goal of the resolution is to gradually increase the tax on cigarettes in hopes of decreasing smoking because of the health risks involved. This tax increase would take effect over the course of 7 years, with the intent to reach the peak tax rate in 2030.

Some arguments against the resolution include that it didn't include e-cigarettes in their definition of “cigarettes”. Therefore, the tax increase would not apply to purchases of e-cigarettes, which have increased in popularity and could potentially defeat the goal of the resolution. The consensus among the countries of the WHO decided to look to add e-cigarettes to the tax at a later date, after assessing the effectiveness of the tax on normal cigarettes. 

Additionally, concerns were raised over the economic losses that could result from a reduction in demand for cigarettes. At the moment, no definite plan stands to combat potential economic losses. 

While the resolution doesn’t benefit countries outside of the European Union, many countries demonstrated their support due to the belief that this could set an international precedent for other countries to later follow in pursuit.