It’s more pointless to send anti-tobacco lobby materials to Madam von der Leyen than to the domestic government… but yeah, the very fact that they wrote definitely indicates the domestic demand.
Besides the fact that a member from our country also signed the “letter”, it will have nothing to do with the situation in Hungary. Overrated article.
Here (yet) there isn’t an organization fighting for business/social engagement serving vaping interests, so there’s no need to lobby.
An alliance representing European countries https://eurovape.eu/
So, let’s be a little positive, let’s not completely rule out this possibility either. Hope is scarce. We want to believe in this.
However (who knows why), if the EU is about to review the TPD, then personally, I can only think of tightening rather than loosening!
The EU’s “thinking” in the last 5-6 years has gone in an irrational direction in everything!
It’s hard to think why this direction would change now and precisely on this topic!
Let’s hope that a positive change is also possible now.
…Well, one can always hope!
Although in this case, that’s also a bit irrational!
If we consider the interests of the affected industries capable of overriding everything, then this requires no further explanation!
Despite a few scientists telling us the truth, there were such attempts in the past, and they weren’t taken into account then either, but we’ll see what happens.
However
I wouldn’t think that we Hungarian vapers have such significance and influence on the EU and its measures that they might even pay attention to us. It’s quite strange that they thought of reviewing the TPD just when we are trying to do something against the exaggerated, illogical, unscientific, anti-democratic, and oppressive measures in Hungary!
It’s something to think about.
It is not the EU that decides how the domestic vaping situation will develop, but the Government of Hungary. The article is misleading.
What we had wasn’t based on an EU decision, but was a government decision.
What the TPD contained delegated to governments the jurisdiction of how to handle the vape issue, which was heavily enforced/overdone in our country!
So we here didn’t have luck in this, unlike in other member states.
That’s precisely why for now I don’t trust that the new government will abolish the current deplorable state, which it could do with a stroke of a pen. I fear that they will wait for the results of the TPD review, and we will follow that, whether it’s better or worse.
That’s why I wouldn’t trust the government’s intention for positive change so much yet, until there’s a decision on the TPD matter. It’s also a question how binding it will be for member states.
Everything depends on that. The only question now is whether the TPD change will bring something better compared to what we had before, or not. Will it be possible to consolidate the vape situation in our country in a reassuring way despite the interests of the involved lobby?
The previous government clearly favored them.
I will be curious about the current government’s approach.
Sorry for the duplication, I don’t understand how it happened. 
Looking at what you linked, although the translator only translated a third of it and I didn’t understand everything in the text, I did understand that the EU wants to discredit Olivér Várhegyi at all costs so that he cannot remain credible and have a say in decisions later. They surely know why this is good for them. …and this will succeed, they have their methods for it. On this basis, I don’t understand why you trust that he can do something if anyone can. Theoretically yes, but whether it will succeed in practice is doubtful.
But I’ve heard that harm reduction from smoking will be part of the government’s health policy, then they cannot omit e-cigarettes either; logically they should support this alternative. Let’s rather trust in this. Perhaps! If they were to abolish the regulations that hinder it, thereby clearing the way for online orders, that would already be a success. Who can interfere in that from the Union? They don’t have bans on e-cigarette orders either. They just focus on TPD. I understand what their problem is, for now, whichever finger they bite, it hurts!
Finding a balance between health protection, market regulation, and tax policy is not a simple technical task; it is a classic dilemma of European integration. It is a fact that tobacco and pharmaceutical companies cannot lose out, and if, for example, they sacrifice health protection for this purpose, we cannot expect much good. The narrative will be shaped to look good for the public!
Many aspects need to be balanced. It will be difficult to do it so that no one is short-changed. If someone is, it will be us, as usual, not the factories.
