"First of all, the fact that mentholated tobacco products are a ‘traditional’ product because they have long been established on the European market, does not in any way alter the finding that their objective characteristics are, in essence, similar to those of the other tobacco products with a characterising flavour, in that their flavour masks or reduces the tobacco smoke’s harshness. Moreover, as the Advocate General noted in point 54 of her Opinion, although it may be justified to introduce special, if not stricter, rules for certain products by reason of their novelty (judgments in Arnold André, C‑434/02, EU:C:2004:800, paragraph 69, and Swedish Match, C‑210/03, EU:C:2004:802, paragraph 71), it cannot, however, be concluded a contrario that more relaxed rules should apply to products long established on the market for that reason alone. Next, even if the claim that menthol is not as attractive to young people as other flavourings were true, which the defendants moreover deny, that claim is not conclusive as such. It is sufficient to point out that the attractiveness of the products at issue cannot be assessed in the light solely of the tastes and habits of a single group of consumers disregarding the others. It must be added in that regard that, according to sections 3.1.2.1 and 3.1.2.2 of the Partial Guidelines for Implementation of Articles 9 and 10 of the FCTC, menthol, by its pleasant flavour, makes tobacco products more attractive to consumers and that reducing the attractiveness of those products may contribute to reducing the prevalence of tobacco use and dependence among new and continuing users. Lastly, as regards the claim that the qualities of mentholated tobacco products in terms of taste are different from those of the other tobacco products having a charactering flavour in that the former, unlike the latter, do not completely eliminate the taste and smell of tobacco, it must be held that that claim is not sufficiently substantiated. Although it cannot be excluded that certain flavourings alter to varying degrees the taste or smell of tobacco, the fact remains that all flavourings, including menthol, mask or reduce tobacco smoke’s harshness and contribute to promoting and sustaining tobacco use, as has been noted in paragraph 44 above. In those circumstances, the Republic of Poland’s line of argument seeks, in fact, to establish that there are unjustified differences in treatment within the same category of tobacco products whose objective features and effects are similar."