New revenue for the EU from cigarettes, waste and companies

A dramatic increase in excise taxes on "blonde" cigarettes, new excise taxes on e-cigarettes, on large companies with net revenues exceeding €50 million, and on electronic waste, European funds for nuclear fission, and a public platform to monitor the use of European resources in real time. These are some of the new developments under discussion as part of the proposal for the new EU budget for 2028-2035 , which will be presented to the College of Commissioners on Wednesday, July 16. This broad and ambitious package was made public to ANSA partly through sources familiar with the situation and partly by consulting the draft regulation, which introduces spending monitoring by strengthening controls on certain items, such as the green transition but also compliance with social rights and international conventions.

Among the proposals for the Union's new own resources, two highly impactful measures stand out: a specific excise tax on electronic waste (e-waste) to incentivize recycling, and a package of new taxes on tobacco products, both traditional and alternative. As for the taxation of large companies, according to the Financial Times, it would apply to all those operating in Europe regardless of their location, and would also include tax brackets to tax larger businesses more heavily.

Regarding tobacco, a long-circulated internal Commission technical document on the possible revision of the Tobacco Directive has already suggested significant increases: +139% on the minimum excise duty for cigarettes, +258% on hand-rolling tobacco, and a whopping +1,090% for cigars and cigarillos. For Italian consumers (not all tobacco taxes go to the EU budget), this could translate into a price increase of €5 per pack to €6.20.

The long-awaited revision of the TED Excise Duty Directive (TED) is designed not only to increase revenue but also to discourage tobacco consumption and include new categories previously excluded, such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco. The new rates for these products range from €0.12 to €0.36/ml for e-cigarettes, and €108 per 1,000 units for heated tobacco, approximately half the tax rate for traditional cigarettes. Any changes will require unanimous approval by the 27 member states.

In addition to revenue, the new budget introduces innovative elements on the expenditure side. The draft Regulation on performance monitoring provides for a true "Single Gateway," a single transparency portal where citizens, businesses, and journalists can consult in real time the financial performance of EU programs, the list of beneficiaries, open calls for proposals, and the impact of spending on climate, gender equality, and social rights. Each measure will also be assessed with a specific score ("gender score") from 0 to 2, and programs will be required to demonstrate compliance with international social conventions in order to access the funds.

The Commission's goal is to simplify the currently fragmented monitoring system, with over 5,000 heterogeneous indicators, and move towards a harmonized framework with approximately 700 common indicators. This will make it easier to evaluate the effectiveness of spending and strengthen public oversight.

Controversial choices regarding priorities are also not lacking. Among the more than 200 policy areas envisaged in the new regulation, nuclear fission energy stands out, as mentioned, although it has rarely been mentioned in EU policy documents until now. For this area, the indicators envisaged are "new installed capacity" and "avoided annual greenhouse gas emissions," thus signaling a potential shift in EU energy policy, which is increasingly focused on technologies previously considered divisive.