Tobacco lobbyists held several “undisclosed” meetings with top European Commission officials, according to a Brussels-based pro-transparency group.
No rules were violated. All contacts mentioned were properly conducted
Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) reported on Friday that among these were officials from Commission President José Manuel Barroso’s own Cabinet, his secretariat general and others from the directorate for health and consumer affairs [DG Sanco].
According to the EU’s anti-fraud office, Olaf, undisclosed meetings with the tobacco industry are a direct violation of an article in the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention of Tobacco Control.
So if Health Commissioner John Dalli had to resign because of secret meetings with tobacco lobbyists, then by “the same logic” numerous high-level Commission officials should also resign, the not-for-profit watchdog concluded.
Contacted by The Sunday Times, a European Commission spokeswoman confirmed officials had met with tobacco lobbyists, the same way similar meetings had taken place with several anti-tobacco campaigners over the years.
“No rules were violated. All contacts mentioned by CEO were properly conducted, and the EU rules in place for contacts with stakeholders were respected. These are compatible with the WHO recommendations,” she said.
Mr Dalli was forced to resign in October when an Olaf investigation concluded there was “unambiguous circumstantial evidence” showing he was aware that his former canvasser Silvio Zammit requested a large sum money from a Swedish tobacco company to lift an EU ban on snus – a smokeless form of tobacco which can only be sold in Sweden.
Maltese police on Tuesday charged Mr Zammit with bribery, trading in influence and relapsing. Mr Zammit, who is pleading not guilty, was remanded in custody.
Just one month before Mr Dalli lost his job, Swedish Match met officials within Mr Barroso’s own secretariat general to explain their views “on the current situation regarding snus and what we see as a logical step to take in the future, that is a regulation for all smoke free tobacco products in the EU”.
Asked how such undisclosed meetings differed from those Mr Dalli had, the spokeswoman pointed out that the former Commissioner had to step down because the conclusions of the Olaf investigation made it politically untenable for him to remain in office.
“To sum up: it is wrong to speak about non-disclosure of meetings. The meetings concerned have been handled properly, in accordance with the rules applicable, and we have been transparent about them,” she said.
“The Commission has already disclosed documents related to the meetings in question following requests for access to documents, including from CEO.”
But CEO, which found out about some of the meetings through the freedom of information law, said watchdogs should not have to prompt the Commission to disclose meetings by making requests for documents.
In its conclusions, CEO stressed that its findings were not intended to say whether Mr Dalli or any other key actors in the lobbying scandal were guilty or innocent.
“The very thing that needs to happen is for the Commission to respond to demands from MEPs and thousands of European citizens to clear the smoke and clarify what happened in the lobbying scandal that led to the resignation of Commissioner Dalli.”