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The Smoke Free Partnership

SFP

The Smoke Free Partnership is a European NGO coalition advocating for stronger tobacco control policies.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Tomáš Kubín (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

14 Jan 2026 · Discussion on the upcoming revision of the Tobacco Taxation Directive

Meeting with Ingeborg Ter Laak (Member of the European Parliament)

13 Nov 2025 · TTD

Meeting with Wopke Hoekstra (Commissioner) and

30 Sept 2025 · Public health and tobacco matetrs

Meeting with Olivér Várhelyi (Commissioner), Wopke Hoekstra (Commissioner) and

30 Sept 2025 · Public health and tobacco matters

Smoke Free Partnership urges strict tobacco controls for health plan

9 Sept 2025
Topic — The EU is developing a cardiovascular health plan to improve public health and economic resilience.
Message — The partnership advocates for full treaty implementation to achieve a tobacco-free generation by 2040. They request stricter rules on taxation, packaging, and advertising while banning industry interference. They also propose banning tobacco sales to anyone born after 2011.123
Why — These measures would significantly advance the partnership's mission to reduce cardiovascular health risks.4
Impact — The tobacco industry faces reduced profits and exclusion from official health policy discussions.56
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Meeting with David Boublil (Head of Unit Taxation and Customs Union)

4 Jun 2025 · Participation in the Filtered Capacity Building event

Meeting with Olivér Várhelyi (Commissioner) and

27 May 2025 · EU tobacco policy

Meeting with Elena Nevado Del Campo (Member of the European Parliament)

14 May 2025 · TDP Position Paper

Meeting with Jan Hendrik Dopheide (Cabinet of Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič) and Corporate Europe Observatory

7 May 2025 · Introductory meeting / EU transparency rules on tobacco lobbying

Meeting with Ingeborg Ter Laak (Member of the European Parliament)

8 Apr 2025 · Tobacco Taxation Directive

Meeting with Alessandra Moretti (Member of the European Parliament)

26 Mar 2025 · tobacco legislation

Meeting with David Boublil (Head of Unit Taxation and Customs Union)

17 Mar 2025 · Revision of the Tobacco Taxation Directive

Meeting with Oliver Schenk (Member of the European Parliament)

22 Nov 2024 · Council Recommendation on Smoke- and Aerosol-Free Environments

Meeting with Ingeborg Ter Laak (Member of the European Parliament)

18 Nov 2024 · Smoke free environments

Meeting with Marta Temido (Member of the European Parliament)

14 Nov 2024 · ENVI files

Meeting with Pär Holmgren (Member of the European Parliament)

29 Oct 2024 · Tobacco policy

Meeting with Olivier Chastel (Member of the European Parliament)

17 Oct 2024 · Politique de santé de l Union européenne

Meeting with Nicolás González Casares (Member of the European Parliament)

17 Oct 2024 · Tobacco

Meeting with Andreas Glück (Member of the European Parliament) and Verband der Chemischen Industrie e.V.

8 Oct 2024 · Health

Meeting with Leire Pajín (Member of the European Parliament)

30 Sept 2024 · Exchange of views on the tobacco legislation

Meeting with Grace O'Sullivan (Member of the European Parliament)

17 Jul 2023 · Introductory meeting

Meeting with Karolina Herbout-Borczak (Cabinet of Commissioner Stella Kyriakides), Tove Ernst (Cabinet of Commissioner Stella Kyriakides)

30 Jun 2023 · ’Europe’s cancer plan; prevention

Meeting with Anne-Sophie Pelletier (Member of the European Parliament)

30 Mar 2023 · Rencontre sur les lobbies du tabac

Meeting with Aliénor Margerit (Cabinet of Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni)

23 Feb 2023 · Tobacco Tax Directive (with Erik Burckhardt)

Response to Fitness check of how the Polluter Pays Principle is applied to the environment

9 Dec 2022

Please find attached the joint submission from the Smoke Free Partnership (SFP) and the Comité National Contre le Tabagisme (CNCT).
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Response to Targeted revision of the EU system of tobacco traceability

30 Nov 2022

Smoke Free Partnership (SFP) welcome the solicitation for feedback to review the 2017 rules that set out EU standards on tracking and tracing of tobacco products. The amendments seek to tailor the tracing system to reflect the data sets that are generated during its real world functioning. However, SFP finds it difficult to provide comments on the review as we dont have access to the system and the Commission has not published a report on the real functioning of the tracking and tracing system, nor on its results. The system has been running for more than 3 years , but we dont know its effectiveness, nor the possible positive and negative results. While SFP has always been a strong supporter of the establishment of the EU tracking and tracing system for tobacco products, SFP has also highlighted an important weakness of the system. In the EU system, the tobacco manufacturers and importers nominate data repositories and auditors. The industry nomination has to undergo approval by the European Commission based on criteria for independence established in secondary legislation. At the time of the appointment of data storage repositories in December 2018, SFP had voiced a concern that several of the appointed data repositories had long standing, documented relationships with the tobacco industry. Consequently, there is some evidence to indicate that the control mechanisms might be under the influence of the tobacco companies which pay and choose the auditors. The reports of the auditors and auditors names are not made public. Following the SFP inquiry for access to documents, the Commission has not revealed the names of auditors stating that this information concerns the name, address and VAT number of the relevant companies. Disclosure of these parts would undermine the protection of the companies commercial interests . In addition, the scope of the duties for auditing is too limited. According to Article 15.8, auditors should assess in particular any irregularities in relation to access of the data storage facilities, but not whether the companies which generate the unique identifiers for the Member States use questionable software from providers that have links with the tobacco industry. Even the report from the Commission on the application of Directive 2014/40/EU concerning the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco and related products, indicates that the Commission will examine whether the systems long term performance can be improved with stronger audits in terms of their scope, operational impact and safeguards guaranteeing their impartiality and public trust . Parties to the FCTC adopted and ratified the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, including the EU and 18 Member States. It requires Parties to establish independent tracking and tracing systems and not to delegate their responsibilities under the Protocol to the tobacco industry. In conclusion, SFP welcomes the review of EU system for the tracking and tracing of tobacco products, however SFP finds it difficult to provide feedback as the reports on the real functioning of tracking and tracing system and its results have not been published by the Commission. SFP recommends that, in line with Article 8 of the Protocol, industry involvement in the EUs tracking and tracing system should be limited strictly to absolutely necessary involvement and we suggest the following steps for achieving this: strengthening the independence criteria for data storage facilities and companies who generate the unique identifiers; selecting auditors and data storage facilities by Member States or the Commission; publishing the audit reports and the names of the auditors; extending the scope of audits to assess the way unique identifiers are generated particularly without the use of questionable software.
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Smoke Free Partnership urges stricter outdoor tobacco bans

20 Jul 2022
Topic — Updating EU guidelines to include emerging products and outdoor spaces in smoke-free environments.
Message — The coalition wants the harmonization of smoke-free laws in outdoor spaces like playgrounds and restaurant terraces. They also recommend including emerging products and banning indoor smoking areas.123
Why — Stricter regulations would help the coalition achieve its primary mission of a tobacco-free Europe.4
Impact — Tobacco companies would lose market share as smoking becomes less socially acceptable and more restricted.5
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Meeting with Gerassimos Thomas (Director-General Taxation and Customs Union) and Philip Morris International Inc. and

18 May 2022 · Videoconference - Stakeholder event to gather views on the upcoming revision of the tobacco taxation directive

Response to EU Agenda to tackle organised crime (2021-2025)

15 Mar 2021

Illicit trade of tobacco products is a major source of revenue for Organised Crime Groups (OCGs). Trafficking illicit tobacco is indeed a lucrative business, with low production costs, interesting resale prices and a continuous demand. In the last SOCTA (1) (Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment) report from 2017, out of 40 million seized counterfeited goods with a value of 642 million € , cigarettes accounted for 27 % of seized products, making it the most frequently seized counterfeit product. Those enormous profit margins feed in OCGs that can diversify their activities. Academic articles(2), international (3)and European reports, and press articles (4) , revealed the links between illicit tobacco trade and other crimes, such as other illicit trade (5), money laundering, corruption or even human being trafficking (6). Recent investigations of the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) (7) shed, once again, the light on those dark relations. they revealed how some jihadist groups in the Sahel are funding parts of their terrorist activities from illicit tobacco trade. Worst, this traffic in illicit products destined to the European black markets is originating from the tobacco industry itself, echoing the long history of the tobacco industry being involved in the trafficking of its own products (8) Illicit trade in tobacco products, as OCGs, is a transnational threat which works across national boundaries. We are calling on the European Commission to reinforce its collaboration at the international level, and to enforce and use the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products , which has been ratified by the European Union and 17 Member States. We also call on the European Commission to coordinate its strategy to fight organised crime with other strategies and plans developed to fight illicit tobacco trade, such as: Stepping up the fight against cigarette smuggling and other forms of illicit trade in tobacco products - A comprehensive EU Strategy; the second Action Plan to fight illicit tobacco trade 2018-2022 ; the Customs Action Plan ; the Directive 2011/64/EU regarding the structure and rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco … Increasing coordination between the different policies and European agencies will reinforce the impact of the European Union actions to address organised crime and illicit trade within and outside the EU borders. (1) https://www.europol.europa.eu/activities-services/main-reports/european-union-serious-and-organised-crime-threat-assessment-2017 (2) Joossens, et al.(2000),“Issues in Smuggling of Tobacco Products,” inJha, P. and Chaloupka, F. J. (eds.), Tobacco Control in Developing Countries, London, Oxford University Press,pp. 39306.http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTETC/Resources/375990-1089904539172/393TO406; https://tobaccotactics.org/wiki/tobacco-smuggling/ (3) http://www.fatf-gafi.org/media/fatf/documents/reports/Illicit%20Tobacco%20Trade.pdf (4) https://www.icij.org/investigations/tobacco-underground/terrorism-and-tobacco/ (5) https://ec.europa.eu/anti-fraud/media-corner/news/08-05-2020/italian-authorities-break-tobacco-smuggling-ring-thanks-olaf-tip_en; https://ec.europa.eu/anti-fraud/media-corner/news/28-10-2019/illegal-tobacco-trade-halted-after-international-operation_en (6) http://www.tobaccoinduceddiseases.org/Human-trafficking-and-forced-labour-in-Malawi-s-tobacco-growing-sector,84669,0,2.html (7)https://www.occrp.org/en/loosetobacco/marlboros-man-philip-morris-representative-in-burkina-faso-is-a-known-cigarette-smuggler; https://www.occrp.org/en/loosetobacco/british-american-tobacco-fights-dirty-in-west-africa (8) https://tobaccotactics.org/wiki/illicit-tobacco-trade/
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Meeting with Cyrus Engerer (Member of the European Parliament)

2 Mar 2021 · A Smoke-Free Europe

Response to Cross-border acquisitions of excise goods by private individuals

5 Jan 2021

Smoke Free Partnership (SFP) supports the revision of the EU rules on cross-border acquisitions of tobacco products. We welcome the opportunity to submit the attached feedback document to the public consultation on the Inception Impact Assessment for the cross-border acquisitions of excise goods by private individuals (Article 32 of the general arrangements directive). The paper is endorsed by several SFP Coalition members, and due to the tight timing of this consultation we will maintain an updated list of endorsements on the SFP website https://www.smokefreepartnership.eu/index.php/our-policy-work/position-papers-briefings-reports/position-papers : - Slovenian Coalition for Public Health, Environment and Tobacco Control - Association of European Cancer Leagues (ECL) - Lithuanian Tobacco and Alcohol Control Coalition - The Norwegian Cancer Society - European Heart Network - German Smokefree Alliance (ABNR) - XQNS! Spain - Smoke Free Israel The Smoke Free Partnership is a coalition of NGOs working exclusively on EU policy analysis and advocacy linked to the implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The SFP Coalition includes over 50 member organisations from across the EU and neighboring countries.
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Response to Tobacco taxation – revision of EU rules

5 Jan 2021

Smoke Free Partnership (SFP) supports and has advocated for the revision of the EU Tobacco Tax Directive 2011 / 64/ EU (TTD) for the past several years. We welcome the decision of the EU and its Member States to carry out this revision and strongly support its inclusion in the European beating Cancer Plan. We welcome the opportunity to submit the attached feedback document to the public consultation on the Roadmap on the revision of the rules on EU tobacco excise duties. The paper is endorsed by several SFP Coalition members, and due to the tight timing of this consultation we will maintain an updated list of endorsements on the SFP website https://www.smokefreepartnership.eu/index.php/our-policy-work/position-papers-briefings-reports/position-papers : - Slovenian Coalition for Public Health, Environment and Tobacco Control - Association of European Cancer Leagues (ECL) - Lithuanian Tobacco and Alcohol Control Coalition - The Norwegian Cancer Society - European Heart Network - German Smokefree Alliance (ABNR) - XQNS! Spain - Smoke Free Israel The Smoke Free Partnership is a coalition of NGOs working exclusively on EU policy analysis and advocacy linked to the implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The SFP Coalition includes over 50 member organisations from across the EU and neighboring countries.
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Meeting with Tove Ernst (Cabinet of Commissioner Stella Kyriakides)

1 Oct 2020 · Europe's Beating Cancer Plan; prevention

Response to Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan

2 Mar 2020

The Smoke Free Partnership (SFP) is a coalition of 48 national, pan-European and global public health organisations. SFP works in collaboration with other European and global health organisations and tobacco control networks to promote the effective implementation of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) at national, European and global level, including by promoting tobacco control information and policy research. SFP welcomes the Beating Cancer Plan and its unique opportunity to garner political will to address the challenges of preventing cancer and reducing inequalities of access to prevention and care across the EU. We congratulate the European Commission for its comprehensive roadmap and take this opportunity to highlight several considerations for the launch and implementation of the Plan. We stress the crucial importance of cancer prevention for achieving a long-term and sustainable reduction of cancer and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The Roadmap notes that the EU and its Member States have committed to fulfilling the SDG target 3.4, as well as the WHO Targets on NCDs. The role of tobacco control in achieving good health for all at all ages is underlined further in SDG target 3.A calling for the strengthening of FCTC implementation in all countries and we strongly recommend including this target in its further considerations. Tobacco use is the cause of around ¼ of all cancers - tobacco control would be a long-term, but permanent investment in reducing cancer and NCDs’ toll on people, economies, and health systems. Primary prevention plays a crucial role for improving public health. Preventing tobacco uptake through effective policy could reduce inequalities in gaining access to preventative cancer services, mentioned in the Roadmap. The Plan must recognise the importance of proper and effective FCTC implementation across all MS in order to reduce tobacco use and to improve public health. We welcome the inclusion of tobacco taxation in the Roadmap as an example of effective prevention and we draw attention to other proven tobacco control policies within the remit of EU competences. These include plain standardised packs; further restrictions on product design features that make tobacco attractive; addressing cross-border advertising, promotion and sponsorships particularly in social and entertainment media; investing in coordinated surveillance and policy research; and implementing effective measures to reduce illicit tobacco trade. This is relevant in light of the possible revision of the Tobacco Tax Directive (2011/64/EU) and the implementation review of the Tobacco Products Directive (2014/40/EU). The EU should also use its role in promoting good practices to advance FCTC implementation in areas of national competence such as smoke-free policies, education and awareness, and cessation support. Given the discrepancies among EU MS in the comprehensive implementation of FCTC, we draw attention to the Roadmap actions to ‘support, coordinate and supplement Member States’ efforts’ which enable coordination of progress and help reduce the discrepancies in the level of health protection and cancer and NCD prevention afforded to EU citizens. SFP welcomes that the Plan will be linked to the work of the Horizon Europe Mission on Cancer, demonstrating the inter-connection of policy and research for cancer prevention and care. We would like to underline the need for population-level tobacco control policy research. With this in mind, the Plan should also focus on the importance of taking the necessary steps for recognising the role of tobacco control in cancer prevention as part of the EU research programme. Furthermore, it should also outline the need for support for promoting multi-disciplinary cross-border research collaboration, helping to fill the gaps in tobacco control policy research. For more information about the organisation, please visit: www.smokefreepartnership.eu
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Response to Evaluation of the excise duties applied on manufactured tobacco

6 Mar 2018

The Smoke Free Partnership (SFP) is a large European Member Coalition of 42 NGOs that works on EU policy analysis and advocacy, mobilising decision makers to make tobacco control a political priority. We welcome the fact that the purpose of the evaluation of the possible revision of Directive 2011/64/EU will include the structure and rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco and will assess the extent to which they help to provide a high level of health protection. Indeed, tobacco consumption is the single largest avoidable health risk in the European Union. It is the most significant cause of premature death in the EU, responsible for nearly 700,000 deaths every year and, despite considerable progress made in recent years, 29% of young Europeans aged 15-24 smoke. In this context, tax and price policies are widely recognised to be one of the most effective means of influencing the demand for, and thus the consumption of, tobacco products, while also generating substantial domestic revenue for health and other essential programs and investments that benefit society and the economy. SFP would like to suggest that the following 3 priorities should be included in the evaluation: (1) Setting an objective of 30% reduction in the prevalence of current tobacco use in people aged 15 years and over by 2025: this objective is already an EU commitment and tax policy is an important lever to ensure that it is achieved. The Directive is required to ensure both the proper functioning of the internal market and, at the same time, a high level of health protection. Including the 30% reduction target in the prevalence of current tobacco use in people aged 15 years and over by 2025 in the Directive would establish a clear criterion against which the success of the Directive should be assessed. This commitment has also been taken by the EU and its member states as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 3.10) and by adopting decisions at the Conference of the parties for the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. (2) Achieving upwards convergence of prices across Member States: This could be done by approximating the levels of minimum excise duties (MED) for each tobacco product towards a common high denominator across the EU, as a way to achieve a high level of health protection and the proper functioning of the internal market. (3) Aligning excise duties for roll-your-own and make-your-own tobacco with those of cigarettes: The tax and resulting price differences between cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco undermines the health benefits of high excise duties on cigarettes by incentivising young smokers to switch to hand-rolled tobacco products and other lightly taxed tobacco products. SFP noted that the evaluation would also be looking at e-cigarettes in order to determine the correct harmonized approach for taxation of those products; SFP would like to point out that these products are not tobacco products and that they should not be regulated at European level. However, SFP recognises the need to introduce a specific definition and tax category for heat not burn and raw tobacco and relevant intermediate products, so that they are included in the excise system and covered by the control system (EMCS). Health is the responsibility of everyone. We trust that those in charge of the evaluation will be mindful of the health implications related to the revision of this directive. All the points made above are elaborated upon in the SFP Position Paper attached as additional document. Please also note that the comments above have been endorsed by 40 organisations part of the SFP Member Coalition.
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Meeting with Xavier Prats Monné (Director-General Health and Food Safety)

19 Apr 2017 · Tracking and Tracing of tobacco products

Meeting with Stephen Quest (Director-General Taxation and Customs Union)

20 Mar 2017 · Discussion on the revision of the Tobacco Tax Directive 2011/64/EU

Meeting with Xavier Prats Monné (Director-General Health and Food Safety)

22 Jan 2016 · Presentation of the SFP activities

Meeting with Vytenis Andriukaitis (Commissioner) and

2 Mar 2015 · Smoke free policy