Procedure

Amending Directive (EU) 2020/262 as regards the general arrangements for excise duty in respect of tobacco and tobacco related products

2025/0581(CNS)·10th term·ECON·CNS

Summary

This procedure amends Directive (EU) 2020/262 on the general arrangements for excise duty as regards tobacco and tobacco related products. Amendments concern cross-border purchases by private individuals exploiting price disparities between Member States, and rewrite the guide levels in Article 32(3) that distinguish personal use from commercial intent. They propose differing quantity thresholds for cigarettes, cigarillos, cigars, smoking tobacco, heated tobacco, liquids for electronic cigarettes and nicotine pouches, aligning the categories with a parallel Council Directive on the structure and rates of excise duty.

Procedure timeline

Committee amendments tabled
15 Apr 2026
Plenary vote — Adopted
17 Jun 2026 · On the Commission proposal (the draft law)

Amendments

distinct, in window

Members

tabled at least one

Committee

15 Apr 2026

Dates

Plenary votes

2 roll-call votes

In plenary, Parliament usually votes in steps: first on amendments to the text (sometimes split into parts, so Members can accept one half of a sentence and reject the other), then on the text as a whole. The “main vote” is the one that adopts or rejects the text itself. Each vote below shows exactly which step it was. How voting works →

17 Jun 2026Rejected
On amendment 4 · paragraph 1 · Directive 2020/262 · point 1 · article 1
Official label: Article 1, § 1, après le point 1; Directive (UE) 2020/262 - Article 32 - § 3 - point a - Am 4 · what was voted ↗
287 for352 against20 abstentions60 did not vote
For
Against
Abst.
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17 Jun 2026Main voteAdopted
On the Commission proposal (the draft law)
Official label: Proposition de la Commission au Conseil · what was voted ↗
325 for304 against29 abstentions61 did not vote
Decided by 21 votes. The contested ground: EPP (split 143 For / 18 Against) · Renew (split 15 For / 55 Against)
Broke with their group’s line53 Members voted against their group’s majority
Individual positions: HowTheyVote.eu (ODbL). A group’s line = the majority of its expressed votes.
For
Against
Abst.
Click a group to see each Member’s position.

Vote data: HowTheyVote.eu (ODbL, attribution) / European Parliament · roll-call votes only

Plenary amendments4 tabled on this text

Amendments tabled for the plenary sitting on this text, in their own numbering series. This is a different set from the committee amendments tracked elsewhere on AmendEU, and is not counted in any of the site’s amendment totals.

Amendment 1Proposal for a directive · Recital 2 a (new)
Amendment
(2a) The new excise duty categories laid down in Council Directive (EU) …/…1a+ should be added to the guide levels regarding acquisitions by private individuals for their own use. ___________ 1a Council Directive (EU) …/…, of … on the structure and rates of excise duty applied to tobacco and tobacco related products (recast) (OJ L …, …, ELI: …). + OJ: Please insert in the text the number of the Directive contained in document 2025/0580(CNS) and insert the number, date, title and OJ reference of that Directive in the footnote.
official amendment document ↗
Amendment 2Proposal for a directive · Recital 2 b (new)
Amendment
(2b) Changes to the guide levels should be based on the principle that products in the new categories under Directive (EU) …/… [OJ: please insert the number of the Directive contained in document 2025/0580(CNS)] serve as alternatives for products already subject to the guide levels under Council Directive (EU) 2020/262. Guide levels for those new categories should therefore be comparable to those of products already subject to the guide levels under Council Directive (EU) 2020/262.
official amendment document ↗
Amendment 3Proposal for a directive · Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 a (new) · Directive (EU) 2020/262 · Article 32 – paragraph 3 – point a
Current text
a) for tobacco products: – cigarettes: 800 items, – cigarillos (cigars weighing not more than 3 g each): 400 items, – cigars: 200 items, – smoking tobacco: 1,0 ~~kg;~~
Amendment
(1a) in Article 32(3), point (a) is replaced by the following: ‘a) for manufactured tobacco and tobacco related products: – cigarettes: 800 items, – cigarillos (cigars weighing not more than 3 g each): 400 items, – cigars: 200 items, – smoking tobacco, other manufactured tobacco: 1,0 kg, – heated tobacco: 800 items or 260 g of other formats, – liquid for electronic cigarettes: 80 ml, – nicotine pouches, other nicotine products: 560 g;’.
official amendment document ↗
Amendment 4S&D, Renew, Verts/ALE, The LeftProposal for a directive · Article 1 a (new)
Amendment
Article1a Directive (EU) 2020/262 is amended as follows: in Article 32(3), point (a) is replaced by the following: ‘for manufactured tobacco and tobacco related products: - cigarettes: 400 items, - cigarillos (cigars weighing not more than 3 g each): 200 items, - cigars: 200 items - waterpipe tobacco: 0,5 kg - other smoking tobacco and other manufactured tobacco: 0,5 kg - heated tobacco sticks: 400 items or 130 g in other formats, - liquids for electronic e-cigarettes: 50 ml, - nicotine pouches and other nicotine products: 300g, By way of derogation from paragraph 2, Member States may lay down fixed quantities of manufactured tobacco and tobacco related products to determine whether the exci…
Excerpt — full text in the official PDF.
official amendment document ↗