He said he believed it was as “an important step” as it would help stop “the next generation from ever getting hooked”.

EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Affairs Tonio Borg also said ministers had taken “an important first step”.

He thanked Mr Reilly for his “charm and acumen” over the Irish presidency of the EU.

Commissioner Borg said if everything worked out in a “clockwork fashion”, the implementation of the directive would be within three and a half years.

He said he looked forward to engaging with the European Parliament on the matter.

Last year, the European Commission published its proposed Tobacco Directive, which it said aimed to prevent young people from starting a smoking habit that kills 700,000 people every year in the EU.

The main strategy was to ban cigarettes, such as slims and menthols, which are deemed to be either attractive to young people or make it easier for them to start smoking.

However, proposals by the European Commission for a ban on slim cigarettes were not passed.

Countries such as Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic had opposed the plan.

They argued that the move would make tens of thousands of tobacco producers unemployed and only boost the smuggling trade.

However, there was no opposition to increasing the size of the warning on the packets themselves.

The deal marks the culmination of six months of detailed negotiations under the Irish presidency of the European Council.

E-cigarettes: sending the wrong smoke-signal

On line cigarettes – european made cigarette sales.

• Europe
• United States
• Health care
• Smoking and tobacco
• Health and fitness

E cigarettes are not entirely risk free. Little research has yet been done about their long term health effects. Nicotine is, in implausibly large doses, a poison. Even in small ones it is addictive and the amount of the chemical dispensed by e cigarettes varies from one brand to another. But it is already clear that whatever health risks may emerge in studies of e cigarette use, they are vastly less lethal than traditional smokes.

Given the prospect of weaning the world s billion or so smokers onto something much less harmful, as well as protecting children and others from second hand smoke, there is a more sensible approach. Europe should tighten the existing rules on labelling and quality control that affect e cigarettes. America should also increase oversight. Governments should then invest in rigorous testing and see how the product evolves. For e cigarettes are changing rapidly in response to consumer demand. In America around 300m of them will be sold this year, three times the figure in 2012.

This seems to worry pharmaceutical firms, which in Europe are lobbying for curbs on e cigarettes, a competitor to their nicotine patches and other quitting aids. Big tobacco firms are working on e cigarettes of their own, as well as cigarettes that heat rather than burn the tobacco. But they have an interest in slowing the switch to smokeless smokes. If the innovative smaller firms that make most e cigarettes have to seek a licence every time they want to offer a new flavour or strength, the move towards safer nicotine consumption will be slowed.

Careless regulation costs lives

So far it seems that most regular vapers of e cigarettes are smokers or ex smokers. But over time the prospect of a relatively harm free nicotine kick could draw in many new users. This risk, and the lack of long term research on the residual risks of nicotine, argue for restricting the sales of e cigarettes to children. But as far as adults are concerned, they should be subject to less regulation than alcohol (which is far more harmful) and perhaps to no more than caffeine, another addictive and mildly poisonous substance whose widespread use governments see no need to curb. The risk of getting more people addicted to something relatively harmless is well worth taking, given the opportunity for curbing dramatically the world s single most harmful voluntary activity. Politicians should stand back and let a thousand e cig brands bloom.