Bigger duty-free allowance for EU citizens accept cigarettes..

December 4, 2008 - As of today (December 1, 2008), Europeans traveling home from non-EU countries have the right to bring into the bloc more duty free products, the European Commission announced.
unless those goods are cigarettes. Those traveling home by air or sea will be allowed to import into the EU tax free products worth up to €430 (USD 551.11), while the allowance for those traveling by other means will be €300 (USD 384.57).

The limit for cigarettes remains unchanged at 200, but EU states are now offered the possibility of reducing this figure to 40 if they decide the measure is needed to support health policies. So far, almost half the EU states – Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Britain, Spain and the Czech Republic – have chosen to keep the limit of 200 cigarettes. The other EU countries will lower the limit to 40, while Greece and Hungary will only allow imports of 200 cigarettes for air travelers.

Reference: Bigger duty-free allowance for EU citizens by ELITSA VUCHEVA, euobserver.com, 12/1/2008 and Some EU states reduce duty-free allowance, Tobacco Reporter, 12/3/2008.