Katherine Devlin of ECITA
Hi, all,
Sorry for the long delay - again! We are still maniacally busy, and believe it or not, there is actual progress happening. (Somebody needs to let the Commission know, of course, but they'll catch up eventually... )
The leaked document from the Commission seems to have been their attempt at proving they are idiots ... corrupt... out to kill every EU smoker... horrendously ill-informed - despite having been given ALL the information they could possibly need.
More than anything, it reeks of a toddler's temper tantrum, throwing ALL the toys out of the pram, AND the baby out with the bath water all in one go! (And prams in the bath are a bad idea at ANY time! ) Basically, one could interpret the Commission's proposal as their saying:
"OK, European Parliament, you wanna play rough, and vote against our medicines regulation proposal? Fine! Then we'll give you something even worse! Hah! How do you like THEM apples?"
Now, of course, the European Parliament is not filled with total idiots, so they will not have been impressed with this stunt at all. (Indeed, this is the feedback I have been hearing.) However, it seems that the Commission has already recognised that it was very damaging ... 'unfortunate' that their document was leaked (but then the Commission could easily be renamed 'The Colander', with few noticing much difference! ), since they are now having to make overtures to the Parliament to try to calm these troubled waters - despite the fact that the ripples were caused by their tossing of pram, baby and bathwater overboard!
Suffice to say, this was only a proposal into the Trialogue process, which is ongoing. It is perhaps still possible for something sensible to come out of this, but it is at least as important as it ever was for every vaper who cares about this (and every human being who is NOT a vaper, but cares about this!) to TELL YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE WHY THIS MATTERS TO YOU!!!! Both your MEPs and your MPs need to know YOUR story; they need to know why you (or your friend/family member) vapes; they need to know what kit you use, with what flavour and strength, and WHY this has helped you stay off the cigarettes.
Ultimately, although the UK government appears to be making far more sensible noises in the past few weeks, this is unlikely to be in time to have an impact in Brussels IF (and that's a very big 'if') the EU is going to get a revision to the TPD through in the first reading. Personally, I believe this is getting increasingly unlikely, since the EU as a whole (Commission, Council and Parliament) appear totally unable to agree on anything sensible for ecigs. If they are so desperate to get the TPD through before the end of this parliament, then they will have to leave ecigs out. If they keep them in with numptiness such as that proposed by the Commission, the whole TPD is likely to be doomed.
We WILL win this thing, peeps, but only if we stick together and continue to fight hard - and make no mistake: we are fighting for our lives, as well as for the lives of all the smokers who have not yet had the opportunity we have had to find the right vaping kit for us as individuals.
Happy and long-lived vaping, one and all,
Katherine
