In BrusselsMorning.com, Adam Bartha, Director of EPICENTER, criticised proposals for a tax on ultra-processed foods as Brussels intensifies its debate on diet, public health and fiscal policy. Bartha argued that “sin taxes never made anyone healthier or richer,” warning that such levies would punish the poorest and primarily serve to fill a fiscal gap created by the Commission’s push for a larger EU budget. Drawing on EPICENTER’s competitiveness analysis, he stressed that improved health outcomes depend on increased prosperity through faster economic growth and a more responsible EU budget rather than new punitive taxes.