The European Union reaches the COP11 of the Framework Agreement for Tobacco Control with a package of measures covered by restrictions on sale to changes in the product. On the table he appears, among other options, prohibit filters (considered single -use plastic waste) and reinforce the environmental control of the tobacco cycle. The debate worries, but especially Spain, which is the second European leaf producer, where Cáceres regions (La Vera, scratch field, plasence, Alagón Valley) depend on the crop and the first transformation. There unions and cooperatives fear that an accelerated transition will leave thousands of families without alternative and dedicated to the loss of thousands of jobs.
The economic weight of the sector is not lower in the European Union, since various analysis estimate that the economic footprint of tobacco reaches 223.7 billion euros per year (to get an idea around 1.3% of GDP), with more than 2.1 million direct and indirect jobs and 60.7 billion in salaries. The associated fiscal collection amounts to 112.9 billion each year, equivalent to 55.4% of the total expenditure in defense of the twenty -seven. They are magnitudes that explain industrial concern to sudden regulatory changes.
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Given gravity, the sector warns that an accelerated application of new restrictions (filter prohibition, points of sale or fiscal increases without compensation) could dismantle the value chain and put thousands of jobs at risk, especially in the Tabaqueras regions of Extremadura. Cooperatives, unions and transformers demand predictable solutions and calendars, reconversion plans and transient supports to avoid closures, loss of rural income and demand displacements towards unregulated circuits.
Loss of employment and opportunities for the black market
The illicit market is the other great protagonist, to which the loss of employment is added. In 2024, the Consumption of illegal cigarettes in the EU amounted to 38.9 billion units (which is 9.2% of the total), which meant tax losses around 14.9 billion euros. This rise was suffered more France (18.7 billion illicit cigarettes) and the Netherlands (17.9% of consumption), where they were applied price increases and generic packaging. Investigations also explain how criminal networks use drones and social networks to distribute cheaper product and avoid controls.
In Spain, the agrarian link and the first transformation are concentrated, as we have said, in Extremadura, which contributes about 98% of the national sheet. Sector studies and reports coincide in the order of magnitude: thousands of direct jobs in the province of Cáceres and a strong territorial anchor, with companies such as Cetarsa (Public Society of the SEPI Group) that buy and process the sheet in origin. The available literature places that labor base in more than 3,000 jobs linked to crop and the first transformation in the province and about 1,900 positions in the regional chain, in addition to its contribution to the Extremadura GDP.
What exactly discusses Cop11?
The official documentation includes, among others, proposals to prohibit filters for their environmental impact, as well as measures to reduce the offer and strengthen compliance with the agreement. It is not about adopted decisions, but a work agenda on which the parties will deliberate. The EU went as a signatory to the agreement, in line with its European Cancer Fight Plan, which pursues a “tobacco free generation” in 2040.
The red line for producing territories is the rhythm and design of these policies. Security and tax experts explain that abrupt prosecutors and poorly synchronized restrictions with the ability to enforce the smuggling, displace consumption to products without health control and empty public coffers. Hence the insistence on foreseeable frameworks, police cooperation and, for those who advocate the reduction of damage, to display regulated alternatives that reduce smoking without destroying industrial fabric.