Danish candidates want to ban sweet-flavored ‘vapes’ in the EU

Six of the 11 leading candidates in the European elections want to ban the sale of sweet-tasting e-cigarettes. The background is the increased use of such nicotine products among children and young people in Denmark.

According to the National Institute of Public Health, in 2023 almost one in ten 15- to 17-year-olds in Denmark were vaping daily. Many e-cigarettes are sold with sweet flavors such as raspberry, watermelon or various candies, which many believe lure young people into nicotine addiction.

Today, Denmark bans e-cigarettes with flavors other than tobacco and menthol, but many young people still smoke vapes with sweet flavors. They can buy them online or cross the border to Sweden.

The EU should therefore introduce a common ban on sweet flavors in e-cigarettes, according to six of the 11 leading Danish candidates in the European Parliament elections.

– I think we need to protect our children and young people much, much more than we do today against products that lure them into the smoking market, Christel Schaldemos of the Danish Social Democrats told national broadcaster DR.

The leading candidate of the Danish Conservatives, Stine Bosse, agrees and believes that a ban like Denmark’s should be implemented across the EU.

– It would mean that fewer products would cross borders, and I believe that Danish children and young people will be positively affected if this becomes a general ban in the EU, she says.

“Not an issue for the EU”

In the fall, the European Commission will consider whether to carry out an evaluation of current tobacco and nicotine products, including many new nicotine products. Morten Løkkegaard, who is the top candidate for the Danish equivalent of the Left Party, Venstre, says he will not campaign for an EU ban.

– This is not an issue for the EU. We need to create framework legislation in the EU. We need to make sure that the tobacco products directive works with the overall framework, but we should not regulate the details in this way, he says. The Danish parliament recently passed a new law allowing fines for possession of sweet-tasting e-cigarettes. The new law will take effect on July 1 this year.