Sweden leads EU rebellion against Poland’s tough vape and nicotine curbs, as smoking death toll hits 56,000 a year

International health experts have welcomed a Sweden-led formal EU objection to Poland’s proposed crackdown on safer nicotine alternatives, warning that politicians must put science before ideology.

Poland is planning sweeping restrictions that would ban most flavours used in nicotine products, outlaw disposable vapes and even classify some innovative nicotine products as medicines.

But in a submission to the EU, Sweden has warned the measures would amount to a de facto ban on products that help adult smokers quit cigarettes.

Smoke Free Sweden has backed the intervention and is urging Polish leaders to look closely at the stark contrast between Sweden’s success and Poland’s worsening smoking crisis.

“Poland’s negative approach to alternative nicotine products threatens to worsen a tobacco death toll that already claims more than 56,000 lives every year,” said Smoke Free Sweden leader Dr Delon Human.

“Sweden has formally adopted tobacco harm reduction as national policy. Poland is moving in the opposite direction with restrictive measures that could perpetuate the very smoking problem they are trying to solve.

“Polish lawmakers should ask themselves a simple question: will these restrictions help smokers quit cigarettes, or will they remove the alternatives that many adults rely on to leave smoking behind?”

Romania, Slovakia and Greece have now joined Sweden in objecting to Poland’s proposals through the EU’s Technical Regulation Information System. The move extends the standstill period for the legislation until 6 November, forcing Poland to justify whether its plans are necessary and proportionate.

“Sweden’s experience shows what can happen when adults are given accurate information and access to regulated, acceptable alternatives to cigarettes,” Dr Human said.

Sweden has slashed adult daily smoking to just 5.3% – the lowest rate in the entire European Union. It has the lowest rates of tobacco-related disease and death in Europe, with male lung cancer mortality 61% below the EU average.

Poland, meanwhile, has seen smoking rise back to 24.6%, meaning Polish adults are almost five times more likely to smoke than Swedes. Its stubbornly high smoking rate is linked to more than 56,000 preventable deaths every year and costs the economy over PLN 57 billion in healthcare and lost productivity.

Dr Human, a former secretary-general of the World Medical Association, said: “Poland has an opportunity to reverse its troubling smoking trend and save thousands of lives. Restricting the products that help smokers switch would sacrifice that opportunity and leave deadly cigarettes firmly in place.

“Poland should follow the science and learn from the country delivering the EU’s best public health results.”

Sweden has previously challenged proposed nicotine restrictions in Spain, Austria and France. The latest row comes ahead of a major European Commission review of the Tobacco Products Directive, which is expected to reconsider EU-wide rules on flavours, packaging and advertising.

“The evidence from Sweden should guide that process,” Dr Human said. “Europe must prioritise science over ideology if it is to reduce smoking-related death and disease. Regulation should protect young people while still giving adult smokers realistic routes away from cigarettes.”