The European Parliament has passed a draft law to make tobacco products less attractive to young people.
The draft states that all packs should carry a health warning covering 65% of their surface. Fruit, menthol flavours and small packs should be banned, and electronic cigarettes should be regulated but as medicinal products only if they claim curative or preventive properties.
Current legislation requires that health warnings cover at least 30% of the area of the front of the pack and 40% of the back. MEPs want to increase this to 65%, with the brand appearing on the bottom of the packet.
Under the new directive, packs of fewer than 20 cigarettes would be banned. However, MEPs rejected calls for a ban on slim cigarettes.
The draft also states that E-cigarettes should be regulated, but not be subject to the same rules as medicinal products unless they are presented as having curative or preventive properties.
EU member states will have 18 months in which to translate the directive into their national laws once the legislation is approved by the Council and Parliament.
