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

Project description :

The thematic scope of the requested service by DG Taxud embraces both the rates and structures of manufactured tobacco products currently covered by the Directive 2011/64 on the structure and rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco’.

In 2011, the Council adopted the Directive2011/64, which repealed the previous common fiscal legislation on manufactured tobacco in the EU.2 In line with the previous legislation, the overall purpose of the Directive is to ensure a proper functioning of the internal market, while ensuring at the same time a high level of health protection, in accordance with the Treaty requirements and international commitments.

Being a ‘high-level’ Study, the geographical scope will encompass the entire EU. This would entail a global, cross-cutting review of the salient features and of the arrangements in place in all MS30, as well as some specific country-level analyses for MS particularly affected and/or having adopted special regimes. As far as the policy change scenarios are concerned, the EU-level estimates will be based on the aggregation of MS-level data, either based on empirical data gathering or calculated through appropriate models.

Since the Directive formally entered into force on 1 January 2011 (Article 22), the temporal scope of the Study should range from 2010 (baseline year prior to the introduction of the new rules) to present (ideally the 31st December 2017 as ‘cut-off date’). 

Project objectives :

The main purpose of the study is to contribute to the periodical Report on the Directive that the Commission shall submit to the Council every four years, in accordance with Article 19.1. Such Report should focus on the proper functioning of the internal market, the real value of the excise duty, and the achievement of the broader policy objectives of the Directive and may include, where relevant, a proposal for review of the current rates and structures. In this respect, the Study intends to provide robust and comprehensive evidence for the evaluation of the Directive and the related impact assessment of possible amendments. The Study will focus mainly on the minimum rates set in the Directive and on how they have responded and currently respond to the evolving policy needs.

Project funding: Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD)

Consortium leader and Project leader: Economisti Associati srl

Project partner: Università degli Studi Milano-Bicocca – Dipartimento di Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale (Sub-contractor)