Subject: Constituent Concern: Protect Adult Choice and Harm Reduction Under TPD3, TAD, and TED
(Customize the subject line slightly: Changing a few words in the subject line helps prevent parliamentary email filters from grouping constituent messages as automated spam).
Dear [Title & Last Name of MEP / Minister],
I am writing to you as a constituent in [Your Country / Region] to urge you to defend adult choice, proportionate regulation, and public health by opposing the extreme restrictions currently being considered under the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD3), the Tobacco Advertising Directive (TAD), and the Tobacco Taxation Directive (TED).
[Optional Personal Story — Highly Recommended: Replace this bracketed text with 2–3 sentences about your own experience. For example: “After smoking combustible cigarettes for [X] years, switching to vaping was the only method that helped me quit for good. Having access to non-tobacco flavors and a refillable device was essential to breaking my habit.”]
While I fully support strict age-verification laws to keep nicotine products out of the hands of minors, treating safer alternatives identically to lethal combustible cigarettes will drive millions of adult European consumers back to smoking or into unregulated illicit markets. Because these directives will be transposed directly into national law with virtually no room for domestic adjustment, your voice in Brussels is critical right now.
Specifically, I ask you to take a firm stand on the following three files:
Reject Punitive Excise Taxes (TED): Ahead of the upcoming December 11 ECOFIN meeting, I urge [Your Country] to oppose steep, harmonized minimum taxes on e-liquids (such as rates scaling toward €0.36/ml or 40% of retail price). Narrowing the price gap between cigarettes and lower-risk alternatives removes the financial incentive for smokers to switch.
Oppose Overreaching Product Bans (TPD3): Banning non-tobacco flavors, prohibiting online sales (including domestic e-commerce), banning refillable open systems, enforcing 2 ml pod caps, lowering nicotine limits to 10 mg/ml, and imposing plain cigarette-style packaging will destroy legitimate European small businesses while fueling a dangerous black market.
Protect Adult Access to Information (TAD) & Demand Transparency: Total bans on social media information and specialist shop displays prevent adult smokers from learning about safer alternatives. Furthermore, I urge you to demand full transparency from the European Commission, especially following the Regulatory Scrutiny Board’s rejection of its impact assessment and ensure draft proposals are not rushed out over the Christmas holiday period to minimize public consultation.
Public health policy should be guided by science and real-world outcomes, not prohibition. Please represent the interests of your constituents by standing up for risk-proportionate regulation and the right of adults to choose safer alternatives to smoking.
Thank you for your time, consideration, and service. I look forward to hearing your position on these upcoming directives.
Sincerely,
[Your Full Name]
[Your City / Postal Code, Country]
[Your Email Address / Phone Number]
Quick Tips Before Sending
Send to three targets: Copy and paste this template to your national MEPs (via the European Parliament member directory), your Minister of Finance (who votes on TED at ECOFIN), and your Minister of Health (who oversees TPD3 and TAD).
Customize the subject line slightly: Changing a few words in the subject line helps prevent parliamentary email filters from grouping constituent messages as automated spam.