Report on Directive 2011/64/EU on the structure and rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco

Background and further information:

Directive 2011/64/EU sets out harmonised rules at EU level on the structure and rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco. In particular, it defines and classifies various manufactured tobacco products covered by the Directive according to their characteristics. The structure of the excise duties for the different types of products is also established in the Directive.

This Directive was identified for evaluation under the Commission's Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme (REFIT). An external evaluation of the Directive was finalized in 2014 and was followed by a Commission report presenting the results and conclusions of the evaluation in 2015. On 8 March 2016, the Council (ECOFIN) requested the European Commission to undertake the necessary studies to submit a legislative proposal for revision of the Directive.

In order to comply with the Council's request, the Commission started the preparation of an impact assessment and contracted an external consultant to carry out a study for this purpose. This report presents the results and conclusions of the external study and sets out the reasons why the Commission has decided to not submit a proposal for revision of Directive 2011/64/EU at this moment in time.