A new investigative report reveals just how deeply the tobacco industry has embedded itself in European policymaking on vaping pouring millions into research and lobbying to push the idea that vapes, nicotine pouches, and heated tobacco are “less harmful” than cigarettes. And in Brussels, that message appears to be working.
New Nicotine Products Are Now Core to Big Tobacco’s Business
New nicotine products aren’t a side hustle for the tobacco industry anymore they’re becoming the main event. British American Tobacco (BAT) already earned 18.2% of its 2025 turnover from “smoke free” products, and expects that share to top 50% by 2035. Philip Morris International (PMI) did even better, pulling in more than 40% of its revenue from new nicotine products last year its strongest organic revenue growth in 14 years. PMI has told investors these products generate roughly 2.5 times more revenue per unit than traditional cigarettes.
The “Harm Reduction” Narrative And Its Blind Spots
The industry frames these products as tools to help smokers quit. But the data tells a messier story: PMI itself reports that 41% of users combine new nicotine products with cigarettes rather than switching entirely a figure that jumps to 67% in the US. A separate analysis by the European Joint Action on Tobacco Control found that around 60% of European e-cigarette users also still smoke.
Independent researchers, including a University of Bath research associate who reviewed PMI’s heated tobacco studies, say industry-funded research often uses short study durations and selective publishing that favor positive outcomes making it hard to draw solid conclusions about long-term health effects.
Reviews cited in the investigation link e-cigarette use to cardiovascular conditions, respiratory problems, and lung disease undercutting the industry’s blanket “safer alternative” framing.
Money Behind the Message
The scale of industry-funded science is significant: PMI-affiliated scientists have published 551 scientific articles on new tobacco products since 2008, and BAT-affiliated researchers have published 276. According to Tobacco Tactics (a University of Bath platform), PMI also funneled $407 million between 2017–2023 into the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (now Global Action to End Smoking), which distributes funding to research centers worldwide.
Lobbying Wins in Brussels
The investigation found that this messaging is translating into real policy outcomes. In June, the European Parliament voted against a revision to the EU Tobacco Tax Directive that would have applied the bloc’s minimum tobacco tax to new nicotine products.
Analysis of over 50 lobbying documents and policy papers from the past six years shows how harm-reduction arguments consistently reappear in parliamentary questions and proposals. Of 33 MEPs who publicly backed harm reduction, 24 had met with tobacco industry representatives beforehand including Swedish MEP Charlie Weimers, who has met industry reps eight times since 2019 and has publicly urged the industry to push harder for vapes and pouches.
The “Swedish Model” Argument
Sweden where smoking rates have fallen to around 5% is frequently cited in Brussels as proof that harm reduction works, with Swedish officials and MEPs crediting snus and nicotine pouches. Swedish health authorities, however, attribute the decline primarily to broader tobacco control policy, including higher excise duties and smoking bans. Sweden itself blocked the EU tax proposal in June, citing high taxes on nicotine pouches — and since EU tax rules require unanimity, that single vote was enough to stall it. EU finance ministers are expected to revisit the proposal on October 9.
The same “less harm, less tax” argument also surfaced in an EU advisory body, the European Economic and Social Committee, whose opinion on the matter was authored by someone who also represents Philip Morris’s interests through an Italian employers’ federation.
What Comes Next
The debate isn’t limited to taxation. Later this year, Brussels will begin reviewing the Tobacco Products Directive itself covering flavour bans, nicotine pouches, and other new product regulations — where the same harm-reduction arguments are already surfacing.
When approached for comment, PMI said it welcomes “scientific scrutiny and debate on tobacco harm reduction,” adding that its smoke-free products “are not risk-free and contain nicotine, which is addictive.” BAT did not respond to a request for comment.
Source: (FTM.eu)
