As far as I can see the UK HMRA were meant to ban e cigs this month but if they tried it would have gone to court as they have no mandate or law to make e cigs medicine.
There was a lot of fuss over this but all it turned out to be was a PR from the MHRA, designed to provide support for anti-ecig votes in an EU committee that same week. The MHRA can't ban ('regulate') e-cigarettes as a medicine because it would be overturned in court. They will have to wait until the EU does; and that will also probably be overturned in court, at the ECJ in Strasbourg.
What is likely to happen now is this:
1. The new TPD contains provisions to make (a) some e-cigarette products medically licensed, and (b) some will become tobacco products.
2. It has to go through several more stages in the EU (then in each country) before it becomes law. It is likely to pass all those stages (plenary, council, parliament, notice of adoption by EU). It is then clear to be adopted by each of the 28 countries.
3. Once the new TPD passes and is adopted by the EU, it needs to be reinforced by implementation of the same law in each country before it becomes a legal statute for that country. (This is called the transposition or mirroring procedure.)
4. The trade will challenge any pharmaceutical licensing provisions for ecig products both in individual countries and at the ECJ (European Court of Justice in Strasbourg). They are almost certain to succeed because there is a significant volume of case law in Europe and elsewhere showing that courts do not consider a medical license for consumer products can be supported (and the subtext is that they do not agree that the pharmaceutical industry should be able to use the law to remove commercial rivals). In addition the ecig-related provisions of the TPD will break two principal EU statutes and would be expected to fail at law for those reasons, in addition (the principles of proportionality and free trade between EU states). Indeed the EU's own JURI (law) committee has already stated the ecig provisions in the TPD will fail.
5. The TPD, though, appears to contain tobacco classification provisions that will be much harder to defeat if applied to ecigs. For example, all flavours in tobacco products will be banned (even including menthol) if the TPD passes. The assumption at present is that this is pharma's Plan B for when medical licensing fails (as they are sure to know is likely). No flavours basically means no e-liquid, so you can see what the problem is.
6. This will be stage 1 for pharma's backup plan to remove ecigs in Europe; every couple of years will likely see a new TPD with more 'tobacco product' restrictions that can be applied to ecigs (no web sales, no strength over 12mg, etc).
At any rate this is how I figure it will play out. To suggest that pharma is too stupid to realise that medical licensing will almost certainly fail at law, when they have spent millions of Euros on this TPD process, doesn't make any sense. Therefore they must be banking on the tobacco product restrictions to do the job. As yet no one has contradicted me on this, or explained why this wouldn't work.
So my guess is that ecigs will be shifted over to a tobacco classification when the pharma classification is overturned.
As far as the consumer is concerned, there is a long way to go yet. No need to worry.
As far as the trade is concerned (in the EU), there is a desperate need for all vendors to join some sort of a trade group (or set one up that is cheap to join) in order to work together on this. That applies everywhere of course. Every vendor everywhere should belong to a trade organisation, and if there isn't one appropriate or affordable, they should get together and form another one. Divided we are an easy target. Unless of course the vendor is just in it for a quick buck and doesn't care if the market is shut down in a couple of years.
