Snus manufacturers from Sweden, the EU’s first smoke-free country, are among more than 200 European organisations and businesses urging Ursula von der Leyen to rethink a rushed Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) revision, the overhaul of EU tobacco rules. They warn that mistakes could cost jobs, investment and public health.

Tobacco farmers in Bulgaria, tobacconists in France, paper makers in Austria and snus producers in Sweden rarely speak with one voice. On 3 November, they did.

In an open letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, 201 organisations from across Europe’s tobacco and nicotine value chain urged the Commission to reconsider its approach to revising the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) and the Tobacco Advertising Directive (TAD). Copies went to ten commissioners and the Commission’s Secretary-General.

“We can’t afford to have Brussels strangle one of the few industries where Europe is showing true innovation and creating jobs,” says Patrik Strömer, Secretary General of the Association of Swedish Snus Manufacturers, one of the letter’s signatories.

Why businesses fear a rushed TPD revision

The coalition, spearheaded by the Tobacco Europe trade association, argues that public health and competitiveness should not be treated as competing goals.

It warns that TPD revision without properly assessing the economic, social and employment impacts would undermine the Commission’s own commitments to better regulation.

“More than 200 businesses are delivering a simple message to President von der Leyen: Europe can’t afford to get this wrong,” says Nathalie Darge, Secretary General of Tobacco Europe.

“We are not asking the Commission to abandon its public health ambitions. We are asking it to listen, follow its own rules and get this right.”

The Commission’s process has drawn criticism before.

Its internal quality watchdog, the Regulatory Scrutiny Board, issued a negative opinion on the draft evaluation of the current rules in December 2025.

The coalition says the board has now issued a second negative opinion, this time on the 2026 impact assessment behind the revision. That opinion has not been made public, and the Commission has declined to comment on the reports.

The coalition also cites a 2023 S&P Global Market Intelligence study on the value chain’s economic footprint.

According to that study, the sector supports more than 1.5 million jobs in the EU, contributes around €195 billion to GDP and generates more than €107 billion a year in excise duties and VAT.

‘Sweden has shown the path forward’

For Strömer, the Swedish Experience shows that sensible regulation can deliver health gains and jobs at the same time.

“Sweden has shown the path forward: marketing and age restrictions, warning labels and risk-based taxation have helped cut smoking and reduce its devastating consequences for public health,” he says.

“At the same time, the growth in non-combustible alternatives has created thousands of jobs.”

According to a report from the Swedish industry organisation Livsmedelsföretagen, Sweden’s snus industry employs about 3,300 people directly and around 10,000 across the value chain.

It exports products worth some SEK 6.9 billion a year. In October, the food workers’ union Livs demanded that the government investigate how new EU rules could affect those jobs.

Other Swedish signatories include Svenska Tobaksleverantörsföreningen, YOIK Group, Ettiketto and SMD Logistics.

A booming black market

The coalition also wants the Commission to enforce existing EU tobacco rules properly before writing new ones.

In a September report, the European Court of Auditors found that nearly one in ten cigarettes on the EU market is illicit. It put annual revenue losses at around €13 billion, though the auditors cautioned that this Commission estimate relies on external studies.

“If new restrictions simply push more customers into the hands of illicit channels, who benefits?” asks Manfredi Maria Marchese, European Affairs Advisor at the European Confederation of Tobacconists (CEDT).

France, Belgium and the Netherlands, which have all banned nicotine pouches, have Western Europe’s largest illicit cigarette markets.

According to KPMG estimates commissioned by Philip Morris International, only about 6 percent of cigarettes smoked in Sweden are illicit, compared with 41 percent in France.

Strömer warns that public health is at risk, not only competitiveness.

“Failing to create sensible, harmonised regulations across the EU and instead severely restricting market access not only risks damaging Europe’s competitiveness; it also risks doing real damage to Europe’s public health by forcing consumers to choose the most deadly nicotine products on the market,” he says.

Health groups want tougher rules

Not everyone shares the coalition’s view. The Commission describes tobacco as the EU’s largest avoidable health risk, responsible for nearly 700,000 deaths a year.

Its April evaluation concluded that the existing rules had helped reduce smoking. Health organisations such as the Smoke Free Partnership are calling for a strengthened Tobacco Products Directive that covers e-cigarettes, heated tobacco and other newer products.

In Sweden, Hjärt-Lungfonden has urged the government to back EU efforts to protect young people from nicotine.

What’s next with the Tobacco Products Directive?

The Commission is expected to present its proposal for its TPD revision in December. The signatories say they stand ready to work with the Commission on an evidence-based, proportionate framework.

“It’s critical the Commission take steps toward sensible regulation of new nicotine products,” says Strömer.