Organizations from 15 European countries are starting today, January 26th, to collect the necessary signatures to suggest to the European Commission that it propose legislation to abolish the sale of tobacco and nicotine products.
In a statement, the Portuguese Society of Pulmonology (SPP), one of the organizations involved, explains that they will have until January 15, 2024 to gather the million signatures needed to "abolish the sale of tobacco and nicotine products for the next generations".
The project is led by the Spanish Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Nofumadores and the ENSP (European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention), in collaboration with organizations from 15 European countries, including the SPP.
The note explains that eight European citizens – including the current coordinator of the SPP smoking commission, pulmonologist Sofia Ravara – submitted the proposal to the European Commission (EC), which, “after a preliminary technical-legal assessment, approved the launch of the initiative, considering that it has powers and competences to legislate in this area and that it is in accordance with the values and legal functioning of the EU».
For this, says the note, Nofumadores uses a tool of participatory democracy, launched by the Treaty of Lisbon – the European Citizens Initiative (ECI), which «is a unique way of contributing to the definition of Union policies Commission asking the European Commission to propose new laws'.
“Once one million signatures distributed in at least seven EU countries have been reached, the European Commission is obliged to evaluate the measures and decide whether they can enter the EU policy negotiation gear”, writes the SPP.
In the statement, the SPP explains that the objective of this ECI, dubbed Europe Without Tobacco, "is the progressive abolition of the sale of tobacco and nicotine derivatives to citizens born from 1 January 2010".
Quoted in the statement, Raquel Fernández Megina, president of Nofumadores and organizer of the initiative in Spain, says: “By doing this, we are declaring that the sovereignty of the EU rests on the shoulders of its citizens and not on the lobbying capacity of the harmful tobacco industry. ».
The objective – defend the organizations – «is to save the next generation from this pandemic totally created by the industry».
«For the tobacco industry, teenagers are replacing the customers they need to perpetuate this cycle of addiction, illness, suffering and premature death», they consider.
They stress that, even if the European Commission supports the progressive ban on tobacco products, the EU "will need to accompany this measure with a massive restriction of places where current smokers can light, vape or use any tobacco heating device".
“It will also be necessary, as was done in Australia, to drastically reduce the number of places where tobacco can be sold”, they recall.
«Since these products are very addictive and the young brain has greater plasticity, children and young people quickly become dependent; when someone becomes dependent, there is no escape, they can hardly break free from this vicious circle», adds Sofia Ravara.
In order to "avoid manipulation by the tobacco industry", the citizens' initiative also demands that the European Commission "eliminate advertising for all tobacco and nicotine products, in addition to their presence in audiovisual productions and on social networks, addressing especially covert advertising through influencers and product positioning».
The promoters also recall that «cigarettes and electronic cigarettes are not sustainable in a world of global warming and the destruction of natural ecosystems, as they cause significant damage to the environment».
The initiative can be subscribed from today here
Comments