Tobacco policies in the European Union: a need for state and continental harmonisation?

Abstract

A reduction in tobacco consumption has been targeted as a major public health policy by the European Union (EU). Since 1987, there have been several directives and other legal texts concerning this issue [1]. Despite this, the consumption of tobacco, mainly cigarettes, remains unchanged or continues its upward trend (depending on the country studied) and public health goals are not being met. Smoking is still the leading cause of avoidable death in Europe despite the mea sures taken to control tobacco consumption. Currently it is estimated that more than half a million people die every year in the EU as a direct or indirect conse quence of smoking [2]. The preferred reduction in tobacco consumption is from complete cessation, not merely a lowering of the number of cigarettes smoked per person per day. To achieve this goal, the many available policies need to be harmonised within each member state as well as within the EU. The need for a global strategy to combat tobacco consumption was explicitly acknowl edged by the European Commission (recommendation 2003/54/CE), which included the need to implement measures to dissuade young people from smoking and also to ban tobacco advertisement. Harmonisation needs to be a dynamic process tailored to the contin uously monitored reactions of the consumers. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the most efficient strategies to fight tobacco consumption are population-wide public policies such