In a significant move following long-standing negotiations, the European Parliament has agreed on a new permanent committee, the SANT, dedicated to Public Health. This committee will hold legislative power over nicotine/tobacco products, including nicotine pouches, by leading on the upcoming revision of the Tobacco Products Directive. This decision follows extended negotiations between key political groups, including the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), Socialists and Democrats (S&D), and Renew Europe.
Previously a subcommittee of the Environment Committee (ENVI), the newly independent SANT committee now gains authority over various health-related issues, from pharmaceuticals to patient rights, health crisis response, and, importantly for the key audience of Pouchforum, tobacco-related products.
This development is part of a larger restructuring within the European Parliament, where ENVI will continue to handle food safety and pesticide regulations, while SANT focuses on public health legislation. This shift reflects the growing importance of public health issues in EU discussions and paves the way for targeted regulations to address their impact on public health across Europe.
We hope this move will result in a more thorough discussion on the role of nicotine pouches and the potential benefits of solid legislation focused on harm reduction rather than imitating restrictive approaches of certain member states or simplistically relying on blanket prohibitions. With over 80 million users of combustible tobacco in the EU, it would be naive to legislate on reduced-risk alternatives without considering this context. We hope that a committee dedicated to this, and other similar issues will have a greater ability to give this important issue the full attention it deserves.
The committee’s status will be updated once the agreement and decision are confirmed by the European Parliament plenary.