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A €4.80 pack of cigarettes in Greece already includes about €3.83 in taxes. European Union finance ministers meet Monday in Brussels to try to agree on how much higher tobacco taxes should go and how quickly countries should have to raise them. The talks also cover vapes, heated tobacco, and nicotine pouches.
The European Commission initially proposed raising the EU’s minimum excise duty on cigarettes from €90 to €215 per 1,000 cigarettes, with adjustments for national price levels. A compromise drawn up by Ireland, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, would raise the minimum in stages to €140 in July 2028, €170 in 2030 and €200 in 2032, according to Italy’s La Repubblica. The changes require agreement from all 27 member states.
Greece is pushing for more time. Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis said last month that the draft would give Greece until 2036 to apply the new rates in full. Athens argues that a steep increase could encourage smuggling, cut tax revenue and hurt domestic tobacco producers. The Commission says higher minimum rates would narrow tax differences across the bloc and support efforts to reduce tobacco use.
Where the €13.82 figure comes from
Greece’s Centre of Planning and Economic Research started with an average pack price of €4.17 in 2023 and tested different tax increases. Some scenarios put the price at €5.91 or €9.02. Two higher-tax scenarios came to €11.58 and €13.82. The researchers assumed the full tax increase would be passed on to shoppers and that producers’ profit margins would stay the same. The figures show what could happen under those assumptions. The rates under discussion in Brussels are a separate matter.
Smuggling is part of the debate. A KPMG study commissioned by Philip Morris estimated that roughly four in 10 cigarettes consumed in France in 2025 were illicit. The estimate describes the size of the illegal market. It does not establish what caused it to grow.
What it means at the kiosk in Cyprus
Finance Minister Makis Keravnos is attending Monday’s talks. For shoppers in Cyprus, where packs typically sell for about €4.50 to €5, the EU is discussing a minimum tax, while the price at the kiosk will depend on the final deal, how Cyprus applies it, and how much of any increase companies pass on. Monday’s meeting itself brings no immediate change at the till.
