Germany and 15 other EU countries want vapes included in tobacco tax

The Managing Director of the German subsidiary of e-cigarette manufacturer Reymont, Selim Oezder, stands at his company's stand at the Intertabac trade fair and uses a vape, as the devices are also known. Germany, France and 14 other European Union countries want the the bloc's tobacco taxation laws widened to include new products like electric cigarettes, better known as vapes. Wolf von Dewitz/dpa

Germany, France and 14 other European Union countries want the the bloc's tobacco taxation laws widened to include new products like electric cigarettes, better known as vapes.

A letter to the European Commission seen by dpa on Tuesday and signed by the finance ministries of 16 EU member states called for EU taxation on vapes to be harmonized.

On the basis of the current regulations, most of these products "cannot be taxed like traditional tobacco products," the letter from the 16 EU member states said.

The 16 EU countries said the EU directive on tobacco taxation, which decides which tobacco products are to be taxed and how, had become outdated since the legislation was last updated in 2011.

Electric cigarettes are not covered. At the time, the use of a battery-powered heating device to inhale nicotine through an aerosol was relatively niche but has now become much bigger market.

EU countries are concerned that the different legal measures taken nationally to tax the new tobacco products, in absence of EU-wide legislation, had distorted the bloc's internal market

EU Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis gave confirmation in a press conference that the EU executive arm had received the letter and would examine the issue.