Ombudsman to look at tobacco lobbying

The transparency NGO Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) has said that European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly is set to investigate what CEO sees as the European Commission’s failure properly to implement World Health Organization’s rules for contacts with tobacco lobbyists, according to a story in Malta Today.

The EU is a signatory to the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which obliges governments to limit interactions with the tobacco industry and ensures the transparency of those interactions that occur.

CEO said that in recent years commission officials had held meetings with tobacco industry lobbyists wanting to influence the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive.

Many of these meetings were said not to have been disclosed online.

At least 14 undisclosed meetings were said to have involved top commission officials from the Secretariat-General and members of commission President Barroso’s cabinet.