Is France About to Redefine Harm Reduction Push Vaping Back to the Starting Line?

France is preparing to make one of the most aggressive regulatory moves in Europe’s vaping landscape. Under the proposed 2026 Finance Bill, the government plans to fundamentally reshape how nicotine alternatives are taxed, sold, and legally defined – changes that could ripple far beyond French borders.

At the center of the proposal is a new volumetric tax on e-liquids. Liquids containing up to 15 mg/ml of nicotine would be taxed at €0.03 per millilitre, while stronger formulations would face €0.05 per millilitre. On paper, that translates into roughly €0.50 extra on a standard 10 ml bottle – a seemingly modest increase that becomes significant when scaled across regular consumption.

But taxation is only the opening move.

Online Sales and Retail Pressure

The bill also proposes a complete ban on online sales of vaping products, effectively removing nearly one-third of current retail access overnight. For consumers, this means fewer purchasing options. For businesses, it represents a direct hit to viability – particularly for independent vape retailers that rely on digital sales to survive.

Brick-and-mortar vape shops would not be spared. Under the new framework, specialist retailers would be required to obtain state authorization and operate under conditions similar to licensed tobacconists. Compliance costs, administrative hurdles, and licensing barriers could force many small operators out of the market, consolidating sales into fewer hands.

Vaping Reclassified as Smoking

Perhaps the most striking element of the proposal is the legal redefinition of vaping products as “smoking products” under Article L.314-4. This would place vapes under the same regulatory umbrella as combustible tobacco – the very category they were designed to replace.

From a harm-reduction standpoint, this is a dramatic pivot. Products widely recognized as lower-risk alternatives would now be regulated as if they posed identical health threats. While the government frames this move as part of its 2023–2027 National Anti-Tobacco Plan, critics argue it ignores scientific consensus and undermines smoking cessation efforts.

A Broader Crackdown on Nicotine Alternatives

The Finance Bill does not stand alone. France has already begun tightening the net around alternative nicotine products.

A decree published in September 2025 and scheduled to take effect in April 2026 will ban the manufacture, sale, import, possession, and use of non-medicinal oral nicotine products, including nicotine pouches, gums, lozenges, and pastes – unless approved as medicines.

Earlier in 2025, France also enacted a nationwide ban on disposable vapes.

Taken together, these measures push France beyond taxation and into outright prohibition, placing it among the most restrictive regulators of nicotine alternatives in Europe.

How France Compares to the Rest of Europe

Across the EU, approaches to vaping taxation vary widely:

Finland pioneered fixed volumetric taxes as early as 2017

Germany now imposes one of Europe’s highest per-millilitre rates

Spain, Denmark, and Belgium apply tiered or strength-based models

Italy ties vape taxes to cigarette excise percentages

France’s proposed tax rates align with the upper end of this spectrum. What makes France an outlier is not the tax alone – but the combination of higher costs, restricted access, sales bans, and product reclassification.

Few other member states are applying pressure on so many fronts at once.

The Risk: Undermining the Switch Away from Smoking

Public-health experts and industry groups warn that these policies may produce the opposite of their intended effect. By raising prices and limiting availability, France risks discouraging adult smokers from switching to less harmful alternatives.

History offers a clear contrast. Countries that embrace harm reduction – most notably Sweden, with its openness to smokeless nicotine products – have achieved Europe’s lowest smoking rates. Meanwhile, heavily regulated markets such as Germany continue to struggle with stubbornly high smoking prevalence.

The lesson is uncomfortable but consistent: restriction does not automatically equal reduction.

A European Test Case or a Cautionary Tale?

France’s approach arrives as the European Commission faces growing pressure from at least 15 member states to bring novel nicotine products under the EU Tobacco Taxation Directive. Greater harmonization is likely coming – but France’s model may prove controversial.

Will it become the blueprint for future regulation?
Or will it serve as a warning of how overcorrection can stall progress?

The Real Question Moving Forward

France’s 2026 Finance Bill is more than a tax proposal – it is a referendum on how Europe views harm reduction itself.

Should nicotine alternatives be treated primarily as public-health tools designed to replace smoking?
Or as threats requiring containment, regardless of relative risk?

As the regulatory race accelerates, France has chosen a hardline strategy. Whether that decision accelerates the decline of smoking – or inadvertently protects combustible tobacco – will become clear sooner than many policymakers expect.