EU parliamentary group to counter tobacco influence

A cross-party working group has been set up within the European parliament to counter what is said to be the growing influence of tobacco companies.

According to Julie Levy-Abegoli writing for The Parliament Magazine, the group was put together by S&D [Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats] deputy Gilles Pargneaux, at the behest of Paris councillor Pauline Delpech. Pargneaux is a vice-chair of parliament’s environment, public health and food safety committee and Delpech campaigns against the tobacco industry in France.

“Our main focus is to make sure the tobacco products directive is implemented in all member states,” Pargneaux was quoted as saying.

But he said the group would be looking also at “combating contraband, counterfeiting and cross-border shopping”.

And he called for the enforcement of article 5.3 of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which ‘requires all parties, when setting and implementing their public health policies with respect to tobacco control, to act to protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law’.

Pargneaux accused tobacco companies of “spending a lot of money to keep tribunals off their back”, and said: “we know that by going after these firms, we are unlikely to make many friends”.