European Union: Ombudsman warns of new role of former European Commissioner

European Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly has urged the Commission to keep a close eye on former EU Commissioner Günther Oettinger's new role at a consultancy with close ties to the tobacco industry.[1].

In November 2020, the EU executive approved a request from Oettinger, whose term as EU budget commissioner ended in 2019, to join the global advisory board of consultancy Kekst CNC. The group said it received between €100,000 and €199,999 in revenue from tobacco giant Philip Morris in 2019, according to the transparency register of the EU. According to the information provided by Oettinger to the Commission, Kekst CNC helps to expand and strengthen Kekst CNC's global reputation and visibility among opinion leaders and decision makers and supports business development activities.

Emily O'Reilly, in a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, asks her to carefully check that Günther Oettinger is not lobbying for Philip Morris. She recalls that as a party to the Framework Convention According to the World Health Organization's Tobacco Control Strategy, "the EU is committed to protecting public health policies from the tobacco industry."

The Commission's plans to revise several tobacco-related legislative texts in the near future are likely to be a major concern for the industry. The Commission is indeed engaged in the process of revising the directive on the taxation of tobacco products and possible revision of the tobacco products directive[2].

European Commission ill-prepared for tobacco industry lobby

In July 2020, the Industrial Europe Observatory (CEO) published a report, Smoke And Mirrors, showing that the European Commission, in its decision-making process on public health, does not respect its obligations of protection against the influence and interference of the tobacco industry.

The tobacco industry is already active at the European Union level in view of the revision of the texts cited. During the negotiation of the current directive on tobacco products, manufacturers had invested millions of euros to change the text in a direction that would be favourable to them. The lobbying described as "unprecedented" by the European deputy Michèle Rivasi had even led to the resignation of the Commissioner for Health John Dalli. Investigations were carried out by the CEO, via an appeal for access to administrative documents (Freedom of Information), it was possible to report hundreds of documents highlighting the lobbying actions deployed by the tobacco industry towards the services of the commission in charge of taxation, but also of trade. Many meetings were thus held with these decision-makers highlighting the influence of the tobacco industry.

Article 5.3 of the FCTC and guidelines The implementing regulations call on public authorities to avoid the influence of the tobacco industry by minimising contact with its representatives. They specify that when these relations are necessary, in the case of regulation of the sector and its products, they must take place with complete transparency.

Only the Commission's Directorate-General for Health (DG SANTE) complies with this provision by limiting its meetings with the tobacco industry and proactively listing meetings with the tobacco industry on its website. To circumvent this rule limiting its ability to act to influence, the tobacco industry develops its activities and influences decisions via other Commission services that do not ensure transparency in their relations with manufacturers and generally do not take into account the provisions of the FCTC treaty in this area.