President European Commission

 

Dear President,

Thank you for the European Commission’s letter of 25 July 2024[1] concerning the whole-of-Commission exposure assessment, following up on my Decision of 19 December 2023 in the above inquiry.[2] While the assessment is still ongoing, the replies obtained by the Commission to date, suggest that scope for further improvement, both at departmental and corporate level, is being identified and this would be welcome.

The Commission’s letter also indicated that, at a meeting of the World Health Organisation in February 2024, the EU stressed the importance of keeping its work free from the influence of the tobacco industry in line with Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control[3]. The Commission said that this includes “the general Commission policy to interact with the tobacco industry only if this is strictly necessary for the purpose of its activities”. This policy reflects the Commission’s obligations arising from the Framework Convention.

In my Decision in this case, I pointed out that case-by-case assessments of whether potential interactions with representatives of the tobacco industry are strictly necessary are the best way of ensuring informed decisions in line with the spirit of the FCTC. These assessments should happen systematically. If this approach is not yet applied across the Commission, I urge the Commission to do so as quickly as possible.

I look forward to the Commission’s update on the results of its exposure assessment exercise and related developments in terms of further measures, to keep the Commission’s work free from the influence of the tobacco industry, in line with the EU’s international commitments.

In the meantime, I will continue to monitor developments in this area.

Yours sincerely,

Emily O'Reilly
European Ombudsman

Strasbourg, 17/09/2024

 

[1] See: https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/doc/correspondence/192605.

[2] See: https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/decision/en/179448.

[3] See: https://fctc.who.int/publications/m/item/guidelines-for-implementation-of-article-5.3.