European Ombudswoman Teresa Anjinho has opened an inquiry into how the European Commission’s trade department (DG TRADE) handles interactions with tobacco lobbyists.

The inquiry follows a complaint from a civil society organisation specialised in the fight against tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke. Based on its assessment of information obtained through requests for public access to documents, the organisation argues that DG TRADE engaged in regular, non-necessary, and non-transparent interactions with the tobacco industry and that these interactions risk undermining tobacco control efforts and public health policies in non-EU countries, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

In the complainant’s view, these interactions would be in breach of the EU’s obligations under the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). As a signatory to the FCTC, the EU is obliged to limit its interactions with the tobacco industry and to make those interactions transparent.

As a first step in the inquiry, the Ombudswoman has asked to inspect various Commission documents regarding its interactions with the tobacco industry.

Background

In 2023, the Ombudsman Office found maladministration in the Commission’s failure to ensure transparency across all its departments when it comes to meetings with tobacco lobbyists as well as its failure to make sure all departments systematically assess whether specific meetings with tobacco industry representatives are needed in the first place.

The Commission subsequently carried out a risk assessment of its departments’ exposure to tobacco industry lobbying. It adopted a series of measures for better dealing with tobacco lobbying and indicated that its departments should now have a better understanding of how to comply with the applicable rules.