https://farsalinos.github.io/en/tags/european-union/Recent content in European Union on FarsalinosHugo -- gohugo.ioen© 2026 K. Farsalinos, MD, MPH, PhD | Science & Public HealthFri, 02 Oct 2026 17:08:19 +0300https://farsalinos.github.io/en/news/eu-beca-en/Wed, 30 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://farsalinos.github.io/en/news/eu-beca-en/<h2 class="relative group">Bottom line <div id="bottom-line" class="anchor"></div> <span class="absolute top-0 w-6 transition-opacity opacity-0 -start-6 not-prose group-hover:opacity-100 select-none"> <a class="text-primary-300 dark:text-neutral-700 !no-underline" href="#bottom-line" aria-label="Anchor">#</a> </span> </h2> <p>On September 28, 2026, the European Parliament’s Public Health Committee gave the go-ahead to a cancer-prevention report that prioritizes tobacco. Yet, its rules regarding nicotine specifically aim to restrict the lower-risk products smokers often use to quit. Sweden achieved the EU’s smoke-free goal 15 years early, and it did so by making exactly these products easily accessible. The irony is stark: its most emphatic message—that “prevention should be at the heart of the plan”—sits right next to proposals designed to make those very alternatives harder to access. That is the core contradiction. This piece lays out the evidence for what seems like a disastrous (mis)application of the precautionary principle.</p>