A compromise reached on rules for tobacco products sold in the European Union includes large graphic warnings, a ban on flavoured cigarettes and nicotine limits for e-cigarettes, the European Voice reported.

Because agreed stipulations on e-cigarettes exceed the negotiating mandate of Lithuania, the country representing member state interests as the holder of the revolving Council Presidency, that segment will go before a meeting of member states this week in Brussels. Rejection cannot be ruled out, anonymous Council sources said in the story posted on the European Voice website.
Regulation of e-cigarettes was the toughest hurdle in the talks to reconcile versions of a revised Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) proposed Council and European Parliament, the Voice reported. The agreement approved in reconciliation talks allows general sale of e-cigarettes with nicotine content below 20 mg/ml, or 18 mg per unit. Refillable e-liquid cartridges limited to a size of 1 ml and 20 ml nicotine content would be allowed.
However member states will be given liberty both to regulate e-cigarettes as medicinal devices instead of as tobacco products, and to impose national bans on refillable cartridges where such a ban can be justified, the Voice reported. Regulating flavours in e-cigarettes also would be delegated to national governments.
A ban on flavoured cigarettes would apply to menthol cigarettes, for which a four-year phase-out period is foreseen, the Voice reported. The article did not address the proposed ban on slim cigarettes, where the opinions of member states and Parliament also differ. Implementation of TPD is expected two years after final approval. The legislature is expected to vote on the proposal in 2014.