Malta blocked an EU agreement to raise excise duties on cigarettes and other nicotine products on 9 November, becoming the only one of the bloc’s 27 members to reject the compromise. Negotiations are expected to resume in December; the objection has delayed the reform rather than ended it.
By Adam Ujazdowski. Polish original published on 10 November 2026.
The proposed reform would raise minimum excise duties on conventional tobacco products and bring e-cigarette liquids, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches under common rules. The failure to reach an EU agreement does not freeze national taxes or cigarette prices in Poland.
Malta says proposed minimum rates are too high
Maltese Finance Minister Clyde Caruana argued that the proposed minimum rates remained far above those currently applied in his country. In his assessment, the increases could have a disproportionately large impact on Malta, despite changes made during negotiations to the provisions on nicotine pouches.
Caruana also objected to the automatic adjustment of rates. He argued that such a mechanism would complicate the system and leave less scope to take individual countries’ economic circumstances into account. Tax decisions, he said, should remain a matter for national authorities.
Malta supports the reform’s objectives but did not accept the proposed measures, MaltaToday reported. Caruana said concerns raised from the outset of negotiations still needed to be resolved.
Commission proposed raising the cigarette minimum from €90 to €215
The negotiations began with a European Commission proposal presented on 16 July 2025. It envisaged raising the minimum excise duty on cigarettes from €90 to €215 per 1,000 cigarettes, an increase of about 139%. The percentage threshold would rise from 60% to 63% of the weighted average retail price.
For a pack of 20 cigarettes, the monetary minimum would rise from €1.80 to €4.30. Those figures compare the minimum tax alone; they are not a forecast of the increase in the retail price of a pack. The actual impact would depend, among other factors, on the rates already applied in each country.
The Commission’s original proposal also included the following tax levels:
| Product | European Commission proposal |
|---|---|
| Roll-your-own tobacco | €215 per kilogram or 62% of the retail price |
| E-cigarette liquids containing up to 15 mg of nicotine per ml | €0.12 per ml or 20% of the retail price |
| Liquids containing more than 15 mg of nicotine per ml | €0.36 per ml or 40% of the retail price |
| Nicotine pouches | Ultimately €143 per kilogram or 50% of the retail price |
| Heated tobacco | Ultimately €108 per 1,000 units or €155 per kilogram, or 55% of the retail price |
The proposal provided for transition periods for some products. Subsequent rate adjustments would take account of inflation and differences in price levels between countries.
Common rules would cover e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches
The Commission said changes in the market justified the reform. Existing EU rules do not treat newer nicotine products consistently, leaving individual countries to tax them under their own arrangements. The proposal sought to reduce those differences and extend the common excise framework.
According to estimates presented by the Commission in July 2025, updating the minimum rates could generate an additional €15 billion in annual tax revenue across the EU. The Commission proposed applying the new rules from 2028, with a four-year transition period for some products.
Negotiations set to resume in December
After the meeting, Irish Finance Minister Simon Harris said 26 countries had supported the compromise, Reuters reported. The measure requires unanimity, so Malta’s objection was enough to prevent an agreement. The Irish presidency plans to continue negotiations and return to the proposal in December.
