{"id":6966,"date":"2022-12-01T13:00:46","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T12:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/?p=6966"},"modified":"2022-12-01T13:11:39","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T12:11:39","slug":"leaked-eu-doc-sparks-snus-shock-in-sweden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/leaked-eu-doc-sparks-snus-shock-in-sweden\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaked EU doc sparks \u2018snus shock\u2019 in Sweden "},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Weekend media reports about a leaked EU document purportedly calling for a steep increase in excise duties on Swedish snus sparked an angry “snus shock” among Swedish snus consumers and politicians.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s described is an unreasonable proposal,\u201d Sweden\u2019s Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson wrote on Twitter in reaction to the story, first reported by the Aftonbladet newspaper<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the proposal outlined in a European Commission document were adopted, the price of a standard tin of Swedish Match-brand General snus would roughly double to around 120 kronor (\u20ac11). Prices for tins of portion snus would increase by about 34 kronor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anger from celebrity snus users<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The reports sparked a \u201csnus shock\u201d among Swedish snus consumers, including many celebrities and other notable figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author and criminologist Leif GW Persson, who is also a popular TV host and snus user, said he planned to buy a \u201chuge supply\u201d of snus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOut in the EU, people smoke cigarettes. Snus is actually a health product compared to cigarettes, without necessarily being healthy,\u201d he told Sweden\u2019s TV4, according to the Expressen newspaper<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, former Army of Lovers vocalist and snus lover Dominika Peczynski \u2013 who is in a relationship with former Swedish finance minister Anders Borg and now works as a PR consultant \u2013 complained that the proposal to tax snus the same way as combustible tobacco \u201cdefied logic\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe societal damage caused by combustible tobacco is on a completely different level, she told the Aftonbladet newspaper<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peczynski, who proudly consumes a tin of snus per day, has never thought about quitting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re tough people. We\u2019ll just have to work a little harder. That\u2019s how we snusers are. We\u2019re good people, you know,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Record producer and Swedish Idol jury member Anders Bagge, who is often seen on national television with a snus bulge under his lip, said he would continue to snus even if the proposed tax hike came into force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWould I quit? Not on your life! I\u2019ll continue as long as I walk on this earth,\u201d he told Aftonbladet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He likened his snus to \u201ca little security blanket under my lip\u201d, and went on to compare Swedes\u2019 love of snus to the love of wine in France, equating it to a part of the country\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This is something we\u2019ve done for generations. It\u2019s like saying the French can no longer have a glass of wine at lunch,\u201d he told the newspaper, urging the Swedish government to fight the proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reactions to ‘snus shock’ not surprising<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Patrik Str\u00f6mer, Secretary General of the Association of Swedish Snus Manufacturers, understands the anger and frustration that has bubbled up among Sweden\u2019s million-plus snus consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not surprising that people have such strong reactions,\u201d he tells Snusforumet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some voices in Sweden\u2019s pro-snus chorus have claimed the country\u2019s permanent exemption to the EU snus ban, negotiated upon Sweden\u2019s entry in 1995, would prevent the EU from making proposals affecting snus regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Str\u00f6mer points out that the exemption didn\u2019t prevent the European Commission from trying to influence Swedish rules on snus flavouring in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s gratifying about this whole episode is that people are coming together to defend Swedish snus,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finance Minister: We will fight back<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, Finance Minister Svantesson appeared on Swedish public service broadcaster SVT and delivered a clear message about snus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo even play with the thought of doubling the price of the Swedish snus is completely unreasonable and we obviously intend to fight it. The EU has nothing to do with how we tax snus,\u201d she said on the Morgonstudio talk show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked how the tax increase would affect snus consumers if it came into force, she replied:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy position is that it should not happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Members of the European Commission seem to have difficulty understanding the difference between snus and cigarettes, according to Svantesson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut we Swedes do. We know the difference and therefore we also believe that snus is Swedish, and that we can tax it as we see fit,\u201d she told SVT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the interview, Svantesson also pointed out the positive impact that snus has had in Sweden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Sweden, we have a very low smoking rate, far below all other countries in the EU. And that’s because many use snus instead. And even if snus is not a health product, it is still relatively better to snus than to smoke. Therefore, we think this [EU proposal] is a genuinely bad idea,\u201d she said,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Str\u00f6mer says he is \u201cconfident\u201d Swedish politicians will oppose the EU’s proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s an important stance. And it is clear there is an awareness of harm reduction,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he doesn\u2019t want Swedish politicians to forget about the need to rethink Sweden\u2019s current taxes on snus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHopefully, it can inspire a decrease, and not a hike, in the Swedish tax on such an important commodity that so many people are proud of,\u201d Str\u00f6mer tells Snusforumet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proposal appears on eve of Sweden’s EU presidency<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The leaked proposal has not yet been published in its entirety. Current plans call for the Commission to publish a final proposal during the first week of December. Then EU member states will have an opportunity to discuss and decide on the proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Svantesson says the government will oppose the proposal once it\u2019s officially published. And considering Sweden\u2019s turn at the rotating EU presidency starts January 1st<\/sup>, the government will work hard to prevent snus from being included in the EU’s tobacco tax directive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs president of the EU, you tend not to oppose various proposals too aggressively, but we will be very clear about this issue,\u201d says Svantesson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The battle over snus is nothing new<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is not the first time that the EU has interfered with Swedish snus. Even after negotiating a permanent exemption, Sweden has had to defend snus against attempts from Brussels to regulate it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, when a new tobacco bill was set to be approved by the Riksdag in 2018, the European Commission delayed the process with a letter calling on Sweden to ban flavours in Swedish snus products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ MORE: The history of the EU snus ban<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the “snus shock” uproar among Sweden\u2019s snus consumers, European Commission spokesperson Daniel Ferrie held a press conference on Monday to clarify the limits of the leaked EU proposal. Among other things, he emphasized that Sweden was exempt from the EU\u2019s ban on snus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe proposal we\u2019re working on now will not change this situation. Sweden will therefore retain its full freedom to set tax regimes and excise taxes for snus,” said Ferrie, according to financial news agency Direkt<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Weekend media reports about a leaked EU document purportedly calling for a steep increase in excise duties on Swedish snus sparked an angry “snus shock”…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6961,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[218],"tags":[258,349,251,451,415],"class_list":["post-6966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regulations","tag-eu-2","tag-european-commission","tag-harm-reduction-2","tag-skademinimering-en","tag-taxes"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLeaked EU doc sparks \u2018snus shock\u2019 in Sweden  - Snusforumet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A leaked EU document calling for a steep increase taxes on Swedish snus sparked an angry "snus shock" among consumers and politicians.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/leaked-eu-doc-sparks-snus-shock-in-sweden\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Leaked EU doc sparks \u2018snus shock\u2019 in Sweden  - 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