A total ban on the product is not under discussion, as is the case in Brazil
JOSÉ HENRIQUE MARIANTE – The year 2025 began in Belgium with a new ban: disposable electronic cigarettes are now illegal in the country. According to Frank Vandenbroucke, Belgian Minister of Health, the ban is due “to the fact that it was designed to attract new consumers”. In this case, young consumers. “E-cigarettes contain nicotine most of the time. Nicotine is addictive. Nicotine is bad for your health. That’s it”, he concluded in an interview with news agencies.
A total ban on the product is not under discussion, as is the case in Brazil, but its cheaper version, which cannot be reused, is under threat in Europe. The United Kingdom already has a date for banning the device, in the middle of this year, while Germany, France and other countries are discussing how to curb its use.
Disposable cigarettes are also an environmental problem, as each device that goes to waste takes with it a battery and non-recyclable materials to landfills.
Several countries already prohibit sales to minors, and statistics show that this is precisely the segment most vulnerable to addiction. According to the WHO (World Health Organization), adolescents aged 13 to 15 consume electronic cigarettes on average higher than adults. In Canada, usage among 16-19 year olds doubled between 2017 and 2022; in the UK, it has tripled in the last three years. The WHO data is from 2023, but nothing indicates that the trend has changed.
Experts are divided on the effect of the ban, which could stimulate the illegal market, but there is a consensus that vaping is a challenging public health problem for governments and legislators. The WHO suggests absolute rigor in regulation or prohibition, something that Brazil, for example, is unable to comply with.
Vandenbroucke said he hopes to standardize European anti-smoking legislation. “Our request to the European Commission is to speed up the debate. We need to modernize the laws.”
Unlike other areas, where the continent is usually seen as a precursor to new regulations and global trends, the European Union is lacking in the case of electronic cigarettes. Critics, including the Belgian minister, claim that the bloc’s authorities delay decisions due to the tobacco industry lobby.
The European Union’s ombudsman, Irish Emily O’Reilly, even exchanged barbs with the Commission due to the alleged proximity of some of its members to lobbyists in the sector. Among the decisions held since the middle of last year is the updated list of places where smoking, in any format, should be allowed.
The new Belgian legislation, for example, expands the number of public spaces where smoking anything is not permitted. Usual areas now include sports facilities, zoos, parks and the vicinity of schools and hospitals.
The city of Milan, Italy, also started 2025 with a similar ban. However, the veto does not apply to electronic cigarettes, an exemption that shows how legislators still see conventional cigarettes and their electronic version as distinct things.
There are different approaches to the problem in the world. In addition to the broad ban, which occurs in more than 30 countries besides Brazil, in Australia, for example, the device is only sold in pharmacies. In Hungary, colorful and flavored versions, more appealing to teenagers, were banned.
The WHO and several health authorities, including Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency), state that electronic cigarettes are addictive like conventional cigarettes, with the aggravating factor of releasing much larger doses of nicotine and other substances. The industry argues that the device can help those trying to quit smoking.
