The European Union is imposing a fine on the semi-autonomous Åland Islands for violating the European Union ban on the sale of smokeless tobacco.
The European Commission decided on Tuesday to impose a significant fine on the province.
In May of last year the Commission noted that the practice violates EU legislation, and the total of the fine grows with each day that Åland fails to comply. The sum now stands at more than two million euros.
After the decision, the province was given the task of preparing a law that bans the sale of the moist smokeless tobacco known as snus. The aim is for a legislative proposal to be ready when the new provincial government takes office in November.
Sweden is the only EU country in which the sale of smokeless tobacco is permitted; when Sweden joined the EU, it was given special permissison to keep its snus tradition. In spite of the ban that is in force in the rest of the EU, sale of the product has continued on board passenger ships registered in Åland.
CommissionerOlli Rehn says that the size and special status of Åland was taken into account when setting the fine. If Finland as a whole had been considered, the fine would have been much higher.
Rehn also said that he hopes that the new Åland government would ban the sale of smokeless tobacco as soon as possible.
The final amount that Åland will have to pay will be set by the European Court of Justice. It could take a year before a decision comes.
If Åland still fails to obey the EU law, the fine is set to increase many times over.
Violations of EU health legislation tend to incur rather large sanctions. An aggravating circumstance in Åland’s case is that the violation has continued for a very long time.
Åland and Finland have an agreement according to which Åland pays its own EU fines.
