EU’s TPD implementation unaffected by court cases

The EU Commission has said it does not believe that current court cases brought against the new Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) pose obstacles to the directive’s implementation.

The Commission was responding to a question by the Croatian MEP Dubravka Šuica.

In part of the preamble to her question, Šuica said that some tobacco companies had brought a lawsuit in connection with the tobacco directive, arguing that it violated provisions of European treaties, including the Treaty of Lisbon, such as those on restricting the flow of goods and services.

“Dоеs thе Commission consider these court proceedings to be an obstacle to the implementation of the tobacco directive, which should take effect in 2016?,” she asked. “Are there any other obstacles that could potentially endanger the implementation of the Tobacco Directive by the middle of 2016?”

In its reply, the Commission said that ongoing court proceedings brought against EU directives did not have a suspensive effect on implementation efforts. ‘As such, the Commission does not consider any court proceedings currently being brought against the new Tobacco Products Directive … to pose obstacles to its implementation, and member states are still bound by the transposition deadline of 20 May 2016, when the majority of its provisions will begin to be applied,’ it said.

‘The Commission does not consider that there are other obstacles that could potentially endanger the directive’s implementation. One of the central objectives of the Commission is to ensure a timely adoption of the implementing legislation necessary to make the provisions of the new TPD fully operational. To this end, it has published a detailed implementation plan which it updates regularly. It is also working in close collaboration with member states and relevant stakeholders and good progress is being made.’