A majority of EU member states have called for the European Commission to press ahead with a long-delayed plan to tax vapes and raise minimum excise rates on cigarettes and cigars.

In a letter to commission president Ursula von der Leyen, seen by the Financial Times, 15 countries including Germany, France, Spain and the Czech Republic requested she “take without delay the necessary steps in order to update the [tobacco taxation directive]”, which was last revised in 2011.

They want her to unblock the proposal, which is yet to be adopted by the commission and would, for the first time, set minimum taxation rates for vapes, nicotine pouches and heated tobacco. It would also substantially raise minimum excise rates for cigarettes and cigars to harmonise taxation across the bloc and reduce tobacco fraud, EU officials said.