EU
The European Commission (EC) has been asked by EU member states to include e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products in the EU tobacco excise directive, which would tax these products just like combustible tobacco.
Although electronic products are regulated under the tobacco product directive (TPD) pertaining to the health aspect of things, there is still no EU-wide tax framework in place for them. The EC had asked for consultations about a proposed revision of the tobacco excise directive, which would have included such a tax, in 2017. It had been pointed out that including tobacco alternatives in a directive targeting combustible tobacco products would just lead to confusing the public. Subsequently, in January 2018 the EU Commission had delayed the decision about the implementation of such a tax to 2019, stating that they had not gathered enough data to justify the move.
On May 27, EU member states asked the EU to present a legislative proposal to Council, to address the fragmented tax situation in the EU with different member states imposing different tax rates on different products.