Sunday

26th Mar 2023

Ticker

Taxes on cigarettes 'no longer' deter smokers, says EU

The European Commission on Monday said the rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco "is no longer as effective in deterring consumption." Their report found that 29 percent of Europeans aged 15-24 are smokers, compared with 26 percent of the overall EU adult population. It also found "unintended high levels of cross-border shopping" given the average price of a pack of cigarettes can range from €2.57 to €11.37.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Opinion

EU's new critical raw materials act could be a recipe for conflict

Solar panels, wind-turbines, electric vehicle batteries and other green technologies require minerals including aluminium, cobalt and lithium — which are mined in some of the most conflict-riven nations on earth, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, and Kazakhstan.

Editorial

Okay, alright, AI might be useful after all

Large Language Models could give the powers trained data-journalists wield, to regular boring journalists like me — who don't know how to use Python. And that makes me tremendously excited, to be honest.

Polish abortion rights activist vows to appeal case

Polish abortion rights activists Justyna Wydrzyńska was last week sentenced for giving abortion pills to a 12-week pregnant woman. She will appeal. But with a court stacked by politically-appointed judges, her chances of overturning it are slim.

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us