Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government plans to make representations to EU institutions on EU plans to tax (a) e-cigarettes and (b) other reduced risk products at the same rates as combustible cigarettes.

There are no plans to mandate EU-level rules on taxing e-cigarettes and no legislative proposals have been submitted. As the EU Commission clarified last week, all that has happened is that the Commission has been asked to further analyse the issue of e-cigarettes as part of a wider review of the Tobacco Duties Directive (2011/64/EU). Any proposal would need the unanimous support of all 28 EU governments for it to be approved.