In France, one in three cigarettes consumed are purchased abroad. Fuchs considers this ratio to be too high, which is why he has now tried to limit and ban the products most notably acquired in the Grand Duchy and Germany, where cigarette prices differ by up to €3.
Tobacco smugglers and cross-border employees account for up to 16 billion cigarettes out of the 54 billion annually consumed in France. According to RTL.fr, this rate forces between 800 and 1,000 tobacconists to close up shop every year.
However, the lockdown period slowed down the import of Luxembourgish tobacco, which led to a 12% increase in domestic sales, equaling around €2 billion in revenue for the French government.
Earlier this year, French MPs already agreed to limit the maximum amount of tobacco that French nationals can purchase in neighbouring countries.
