Former European commissioner John Dalli enquired about lifting the ban on smokeless tobacco, snus, at around the same time as his former canvasser allegedly asked for a bribe to secure this outcome, according to fresh evidence presented to Malta’s Attorney General.
The EU’s anti-fraud agency (OLAF) has sent a new evidence note with testimonies of two people who have made statements that Mr Dalli enquired about the possibility of amending EU legislation relating to the smokeless tobacco that was at the heart of the scandal that forced his resignation from the EU executive in 2012.
The witnesses, who work for the Commission, were interviewed as part of a second probe into Mr Dalli, this time relating to a number of undeclared trips he made to the Bahamas while he was serving as commissioner, which, he said, were related to charity work.
Since OLAF had concluded the snus investigation, it passed on this information to the Maltese authorities. The Bahamas probe is still ongoing.
The testimony, which has now been passed to police by Malta’s Attorney General, gives a new twist to the original investigation, which so far has seen one person face charges: Mr Dalli’s former canvasser, Silvio Zammit.
Mr Zammit is alleged to have asked for €60 million from tobacco lobbyists to help lift the ban.
He had also allegedly facilitated two meetings between the ex-commissioner and tobacco lobbyists, in which the snus question was discussed.
He denies any wrongdoing.
‘OLAF may transmit information at any time’
Asked to confirm the information, the EU agency’s press office said: “OLAF cannot comment on the matters which you refer to... on the basis of its ongoing cooperation with national authorities, OLAF may, at any moment in time, transmit to national authorities information of potential investigative interest regarding matters which are under investigation by them”. The former PN minister had stepped down in October 2012 after OLAF concluded there was circumstantial evidence to suggest Mr Dalli was aware that Mr Zammit had asked for a €60 million bribe to change EU legislation within his portfolio, but did nothing about it.
This was taking place while the Directorate-General for Health and Consumers, under Mr Dalli’s command, was carrying out an overhaul of what is arguably the most sensitive pieces of legislation within its portfolio, the Tobacco Products Directive.
Anti-fraud agency always insisted there was no evidence Dalli masterminded bribe request
But despite pointing an accusatory finger at Mr Dalli, OLAF always insisted there was no evidence to suggest he had masterminded the bribe request or that he had tried to interfere with the review of the directive in a way that would alter the ban on snus.
OLAF had sent its conclusions to the Maltese authorities, recommending that the police issue charges against Mr Zammit and Gayle Kimberley, a lawyer who acted as a consultant to Swedish tobacco firm Swedish Match.
Former police commissioner John Rizzo decided to charge Mr Dalli but was unable to proceed after the former commissioner, who was abroad, presented medical certificates saying he was too sick to travel back to Malta.
Mr Rizzo was replaced soon after the general election and his successor Peter Paul Zammit carried out a review of the case, reaching a different conclusion on Mr Dalli.
The snus controversy is a small part of the directive.
It was banned in the EU in 1992 but when Sweden joined the union three years later, that country was given an exemption.
Nonetheless, the ban stayed for the rest of Europe on grounds of public health, shutting the door for Swedish snus producers to a potential market estimated at between €400 and €500 million annually.
Mr Dalli, who has persistently denied any wrongdoing, could not be reached for comment yesterday.