By Emma Rumney Dec 10 (Reuters) – European Union officials have held multiple, undisclosed meetings with the tobacco industry, which uses political connections to try to influence policy in the bloc and beyond, a report by campaign groups published on Wednesday found. The report, by anti-tobacco organisations STOP and Contre-Feu, identified at least eight meetings […]
Health
Tobacco industry links with EU officials underreported, campaigners say
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By Emma Rumney
Dec 10 (Reuters) – European Union officials have held multiple, undisclosed meetings with the tobacco industry, which uses political connections to try to influence policy in the bloc and beyond, a report by campaign groups published on Wednesday found.
The report, by anti-tobacco organisations STOP and Contre-Feu, identified at least eight meetings between tobacco industry representatives and EU officials that were not disclosed in 2023 and 2024, citing documents obtained by Contre-Feu.
Further documents revealed a “close working relationship, including exchanges of information and advice, multiple emails, ongoing multi-year monitoring of issues and telephone calls”, the report said, adding that the findings demonstrate flaws in the EU’s transparency framework.
The report does not say the tobacco industry broke any rules, but it accuses the European Commission of failing to implement a global treaty that, among other things, pledges to protect public health policies from tobacco-industry influence.
A Commission spokesperson said that it follows the tobacco treaty strictly and meetings are appropriately documented if applicable conditions are met. The spokesperson did not comment on any specific meetings.
Consultation with a variety of stakeholders ensures EU policies remain evidence-based and the Commission has recently taken steps to increase transparency of its relations with all such stakeholders, the spokesperson said.
The exchanges included representatives from companies such as Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco requesting the Commission push back on policies in other countries, including Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Mexico.
“The European Union must commit to safeguarding its diplomatic influence … from being exploited by the industry to challenge or undermine tobacco control measures implemented by other countries,” said Cassandre Bigaignon, international and European advocacy officer at Contre-Feu.
PMI and BAT did not immediately provide comment.
In the documents, PMI and BAT asked the Commission to raise concerns about or push for the removal of policies affecting their products, arguing that these violated trade agreements or discriminated against them while benefiting local rivals.
PMI asked the Commission to intervene on bans of heated tobacco products or plans to tax them at the same rate as cigarettes.
BAT, meanwhile, asked the EU to challenge a Saudi Arabian plan to raise tariffs on e-cigarettes to 100%. A Commission official ultimately refused because BAT’s e-cigarettes are not made in the EU, though they noted the company had signalled that it planned some EU production, emails show.
The report also flagged 257 meetings between tobacco industry lobbyists and members of the European Parliament between 2023 and 2025. It said 49 organisations linked to the industry were actively lobbying EU rule makers, with collective spending of 14 million euros ($16 million) per year.
The European Ombudsman in 2023 criticised the Commission for its handling of interactions with the tobacco industry.
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(Reporting by Emma RumneyEditing by Mark Potter and David Goodman)