Martin Drago, Cassandre Bigaignon & Jorge Alday
A brand new report, Behind Closed Doorways: How the Tobacco Foyer Influences the European Union and Past, exposes the dimensions and ways of well-resourced, coordinated tobacco business lobbying on the coronary heart of decision-making throughout the European Union (EU) and its present give attention to rising the provision of the business’s addictive, dangerous merchandise. Drawing on evaluation of EU transparency registers, different public data and intensive freedom of data (FOI) requests, our evaluation reveals a concerted effort by tobacco corporations—significantly Philip Morris Worldwide (PMI)—to each affect EU coverage and leverage the EU’s diplomatic and commerce energy to undermine coverage properly past Europe’s borders.
As a Occasion to the World Well being Group Framework Conference on Tobacco Management (FCTC), the EU is obliged to strictly restrict interactions with the business, guarantee full transparency when contact is unavoidable and never promote the business’s pursuits. A earlier investigation in 2015 led the European Ombudsman to name for full implementation of FCTC guidelines and pointers governing transparency and tobacco lobbying, affirming that “The UN framework applies to all EU establishments.” Moreover, one other inquiry by the Ombudsman concluded in 2023 that there’s a case of maladministration throughout the European Fee “in regards to the transparency of interactions with tobacco business.”
The brand new report reveals that industry affect nonetheless permeates the corridors of energy within the European Parliament, the European Fee and the EU Council. Between 2023 and September 2025, 257 conferences between tobacco business lobbyists and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) had been formally recorded, with PMI alone accounting for 121 of these conferences. The distinction with the entry afforded to well being advocates is stark. The Smoke Free Partnership, representing virtually 60 European organisations working in tobacco management, had solely 12 conferences with MEPs throughout the identical interval. Moreover, these 257 conferences had been solely the conferences that had been declared. Throughout the European Fee, the low variety of conferences declared displays the overly slender scope of EU transparency guidelines. Our FOI requests revealed a number of undisclosed contacts inside EU establishments. This was significantly notable for the Directorate Basic for Commerce (DG TRADE) (accountable for creating and implementing the EU’s commerce coverage), and included undeclared conferences and sustained exchanges.
We recognized 49 lobbying organisations actively working to advance tobacco business pursuits, cultivating relationships throughout a number of EU establishments and guaranteeing the business’s views are persistently represented in coverage debates. These embody cigarette makers, Brussels-based commerce teams, lobbying companies and newer “hurt discount” advocates tied to the business, using no less than 139 folks devoted to influencing EU decision-makers. In 2025 alone, the business declared participation in over 58 public consultations and contributions to 56 ‘roadmaps’ associated to EU coverage.
Sustaining this degree of affect is pricey. Collectively, the large 4 international cigarettes corporations – PMI, British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco Worldwide and Imperial Manufacturers – account for round €10 million of the business’s estimated €14 million annual EU lobbying spend. These figures are self-declared by the tobacco business and are prone to be an underestimation.
Determine 1. Tobacco Business Lobbying within the EU: Prime 10 Lobbying Organisations by Finances Expenditure
Proof reveals three methods geared toward irritating regulation of business’s newer merchandise. First is escalating use of the business’s false “hurt discount” narrative for addictive and dangerous merchandise comparable to heated tobacco merchandise (HTPs), e-cigarettes and oral nicotine pouches. That is the main target of 15 lobbying teams, eight of which had been created throughout the final three years. With this technique, business is making an attempt to construct credibility, achieve entry to policymakers and affect regulation, regardless of rising proof of well being harms and youth use. Second, is important funding in sure EU Member States comparable to Greece, Italy and Sweden, amongst others, creating monetary ties that the tobacco business can leverage to exert affect. These monetary ties create structural dependencies which will translate into elevated affect at EU degree, together with throughout the European Parliament and the Council. Third is lobbying the EU to behave on business’s behalf. PMI often engaged with DG TRADE concerning laws in no less than 10 non-EU international locations, framing well being insurance policies unaligned with its company pursuits as commerce boundaries. For instance, in Türkiye, tobacco merchandise should comprise 30 p.c domestically sourced tobacco. PMI equipped EU officers with questions to lift at a World Commerce Group assembly and requested for the difficulty to be referenced in a report assessing Türkiye’s progress towards EU enlargement. In an e mail, PMI thanks DG TRADE for “the actions that you just took.”
Moreover, the corporate requested whether or not India’s 2019 ban on HTPs could possibly be raised throughout EU–India commerce negotiations and equally portrayed bans on HTPs and e-cigarettes in Singapore, Mexico, and Brazil as commerce boundaries or breaches of commerce agreements. Aside from Türkiye, it’s not clear whether or not the EU acted on these requests.
Determine 2. Instance of a Doc Obtained by FOI Request Regarding a Beforehand Undeclared Assembly in September 2023 Between DG TRADE and PMI.
In response to reporting on these new findings, 5 members of the Parliament’s well being committee say they need to examine these obvious violations of the EU’s Article 5.3 obligations, significantly the interactions with PMI.
The proof and options are clear. The EU and all its establishments should totally implement and guarantee compliance with Article 5.3 of the FCTC throughout all employees and departments. Obligations should be binding, with strict controls and penalties. Interactions should adjust to Article 5.3, occurring solely when completely mandatory and topic to full transparency.
WHO experiences that Europe stays one of many areas hardest hit by the tobacco epidemic, with round 700,000 untimely deaths yearly. Upcoming revisions to the Tobacco Tax Directive and Tobacco Merchandise Directive are alternatives to reverse that pattern, however the tobacco foyer is in every single place, on a regular basis, working to forestall progress. In addition to higher defending coverage from business affect throughout the bloc, the EU should be sure that its diplomatic and worldwide commerce energy isn’t weaponized to problem different international locations’ sovereign proper to find out well being coverage to guard their folks, particularly youth.
Rejecting tobacco business affect is not only a matter of assembly the EU’s FCTC obligations, it’s a take a look at of political will to prioritize the general public over firm income. Time will inform if the EU and all its establishments can cross the take a look at.
Learn and obtain Behind Closed Doorways: How the Tobacco Foyer Influences the European Union and Past, right here.
Authors
Martin Drago, Advocacy Supervisor at Contre-Feu,
Cassandre Bigaignon, worldwide and EU advocacy officer at Contre-Feu, France
Jorge Alday, Director of STOP at Very important Methods, USA
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