BRUSSELS, March 8 (Reuters). EU finance ministers call for higher taxes on e-cigarettes. Electronic cigarettes may need to be taxed at higher rates, European Union finance ministers agreed on Tuesday, as "vaping" increases in popularity. E-cigarettes in most EU states are exempt from excise duties, which are levied on traditional tobacco products in addition to sales tax. That means they are usually cheaper. With an eye on both state revenues and public health considerations, ministers meeting in Brussels said the exemption from excise duties should be reconsidered, and asked the European Commission to decide by 2017 whether to propose increasing taxation on e-cigarettes. The Commission, the EU body which draws up legislative proposals, is likely to take a cautious approach, a spokeswoman said. "It would be extremely unlikely that we would propose to apply the same taxation levels on e-cigarettes as those applied to cigarettes," the spokeswoman said.