By Juan Rafael Taborcía, Global Spokesperson for Considerate Pouchers
The European Union has promised its citizens a smoke-free future by 2040. On paper, it sounds ambitious yet achievable. But the reality is stark: at the current rate of decline, the EU will miss that target by more than sixty years. The new EU Case for Innovative Nicotine Products briefing paper makes clear that unless Europe changes course, millions of preventable deaths will occur while policymakers continue to rely on outdated tools that have failed to deliver meaningful progress.
And yet, there is hope. Several member states have shown that rapid change is not only possible but already happening. Sweden has reached smoke-free status by embracing innovation alongside traditional public health measures. Czechia has recorded the EU’s fastest smoking decline thanks to a coordinated harm reduction strategy. Even Greece, once considered a lost cause with among the highest smoking rates in Europe, has seen sharp reductions after pivoting away from prohibition and toward smarter regulation. These examples prove that when consumers are given access to safer alternatives, like nicotine pouches, smoking rates collapse.
This is the foundation of our EU Protect Pouches campaign. Across Europe, citizens are demanding that policymakers defend access to nicotine pouches and treat them as what they are: a lifeline for smokers who want to quit cigarettes. Unlike combustible tobacco, pouches produce no smoke, no ash, and no lingering smell. They are discreet, considerate to others, and environmentally friendlier than cigarette butts, which remain the world’s most littered plastic waste. But most importantly, they provide a practical, lower-risk choice for millions of people who have struggled to quit.
"Last week, the international consumer group Considerate Pouchers brought its Protect Pouches campaign to Brussels, calling for an end to Belgium’s ban on nicotine pouches."
Read more on @TobaccoReporter https://t.co/4CO0R4h7sa
— Considerate Pouchers (@CPouchers) October 3, 2025
Scientific evidence confirms why this matters: the absence of combustion in pouches eliminates the tar, carbon monoxide, and thousands of toxic chemicals that make cigarettes so deadly. Multiple public health studies show that the risks associated with pouches are dramatically lower than those of smoking, particularly for cancers and cardiovascular disease. By removing smoke from the equation, pouches reduce harm not only for the user but also for those around them.
In city squares in Prague, Stockholm, Paris, Berlin, Warsaw and Brussels, we have spoken with people whose lives have been changed by pouches. Their voices echo the findings of the new study: innovation works where prohibition fails. These consumers are former smokers who finally found a product that fit their daily lives and allowed them to step away from cigarettes. Many of them have already signed our petition calling on the European Union to protect pouches and to make harm reduction central to its smoke-free strategy.
The lesson for policymakers could not be clearer. Countries that differentiate between products based on risk and create sensible tax and regulatory frameworks see smoking rates fall dramatically. Those that lump everything together under blanket bans remain stuck in stagnation. Sweden, Czechia, and Greece show that comprehensive harm reduction strategies can succeed across very different cultural and political landscapes. The EU has no excuse to ignore the evidence.
As Brussels considers its next steps in tobacco and nicotine regulation, the choice is now unavoidable: double down on prohibitionist policies that have failed, or embrace innovation and empower consumers to quit cigarettes on their own terms. Citizens across Europe are already ahead of their governments. They know that protecting pouches means protecting lives.
If Europe is serious about delivering on its promise of a smoke-free future, it must act with courage. That means safeguarding access to nicotine pouches, embracing harm reduction, and putting innovation at the heart of policy. Anything less would be a betrayal of the very citizens policymakers claim to protect.
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