The tobacco industry’s claim that vapes are less harmful than cigarettes echoes its past efforts to minimise the dangers of so-called “light” cigarettes, according to Wopke Hoekstra, the EU’s climate commissioner with taxation policy part of his portfolio. “They mislead policymakers about the risks of these new products, just as they did with light cigarettes in the past,” the Dutch commissioner said in a post on LinkedIn. Hoekstra stated that while the dangers of tobacco are well known, nicotine in new products is also extremely harmful. Hoekstra has been at the forefront of calls within the Commission to increase taxation on cigarettes and alternative tobacco products such as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products and nicotine pouches. Tobacco products kill 700,000 people every year in the EU,” the commissioner noted.