The European Commission has decided to register a so-called European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) called 'Call for a Tobacco-Free Environment and a First European Tobacco-Free Generation by 2030'. It envisages, among other things, a ban on the sale of cigarettes to EU citizens born from 2010 onwards.
In 2012, the so-called European Citizens' Initiative was officially launched. With this tool, citizens of the European Union can submit their own proposals for changes to the law. Since its inception, the European Commission has received 118 requests to launch it, of which 91 have been allowed and eligible for registration.
The way the process works is that after formal registration, organisers have six months to start collecting legislation. If one million signatures of citizens from at least 7 Member States are collected within a year, the EC will have to react. The Commission will be able to decide whether or not to take the proposal forward, and will be required to explain what is behind its decision.
The organisers of the initiative 'Calling for a tobacco-free environment and Europe's first tobacco-free generation by 2030' want the European Commission to come up with legislation that will protect the new generation from tobacco addiction and on action against the environmental risks of smoking.
Sales ban for people born after 2010
In particular, they ask the Commission to propose legislation to stopping the sale of tobacco and nicotine products to citizens born since 2010.
The initiative also calls for concrete measures to achieve tobacco- and cigarette-free beaches and riverbanks, the creation of a European network of tobacco- and cigarette-free national parks, the expansion of vapour-free outdoor spaces and the elimination of tobacco advertising and its presence in audiovisual productions and social media.
It should be stressed that the registration decision is of a legal nature and does not prejudge the Commission's final legal and political conclusions on the initiative and the action it intends to take if the initiative receives the necessary support.
The EC stresses that the content of the initiative only expresses the views of the group of organisers and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the Commission.
Source: cowzdrowiu.pl