On November 28, the tobacco working group, constituted in parliament, approved the transposition into Portuguese legislation of a European directive that Portugal had to adopt urgently, under penalty of being in non-compliance.

On the same day, several organisations had appealed for “every effort” to transpose, in the “shortest possible period”, the European directive that equates heated tobacco with conventional tobacco, regularising Portugal’s situation.

The following day, the Portuguese Society of Pulmonology (SPP) expressed “strong indignation” with the outcome of the political negotiation of the proposed tobacco law, stating that its “annihilation” was, once again, a victory for the tobacco industry.

On November 30, parliament approved the final text that transposes into national law the 2022 European Commission directive that reinforces standards aimed at preventing and controlling smoking.

The document presented by the Health Commission regarding the proposed tobacco law nº 88/XV/1 received the favorable votes of the PS, PSD, PCP and Livre.

Chega voted against it, while the Liberal Initiative and the Left Bloc abstained.

The new tobacco law only included equating electronic cigarettes with traditional tobacco, with proposals banning the sale and consumption of tobacco near schools, at gas stations or on terraces with some coverage.