Brussels, 14/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has announced that it will put forward its proposal for a directive on tobacco products on Wednesday 19 December, thus respecting the agreed timeframe despite the backwash created by John Dalli's resignation from the post of commissioner for health and consumer policy. Frédéric Vincent, the spokesperson for the new commissioner, Tonio Borg, confirmed the news on 13 December, telling AFP that the discussions within the Commission to finalise the text were “in the final stages”. A source close to the file says that the text has not undergone great changes in relation to the text written by John Dalli's cabinet - so as not to delay the revision process. The interservice consultation only lasted 12 days, despite the large number of DGs involved.
The development of the tobacco market, new products on the market and the development of scientific knowledge have made the 2001 legislation obsolete. The proposal that will be put forward next Wednesday will be a response to the developments and will take account of comments from the European Parliament and Council of Ministers, the Commission says. According to information that is filtering out, the Commission will present strict legislation. It will provide for a reduction in the ingredients that currently go into a cigarette with a ban on adding flavourings, vitamins, taurines and other colouring substances. Since 2001 - the date when the current directive came into force - the market has developed and a panoply of new substances have arrived on the market, such as rhubarb and strawberry flavourings, which have been banned or tolerated according to the member states. The Commission wants to put an end to all this with a European text, a source close to the file stated. Cigarettes will also have to respect a strict composition of authorised indredients with maximum thresholds of 10 milligrams for the tar, one milligram for the nicotine and 10 milligrams for the carbon monoxide. Another new area is that the Commission is expected to propose bigger warnings on cigarette packets so as to make smokers aware of the dangers and to make the packaging less attractive, particularly for young people. Health warnings such as “Smoking kills” accompanied by photos that shock are thus expected to be extended on the back and front of the packet from the current 40% to 75% of the surface for cigarette packets and to 50% of the surface for rolling tobacco packaging. The Commission is also expected to ban the sale of “slim” cigarettes (with a diameter of less than 7.5 mm), which are greatly prized by women. The ban on snus chewing tobacco, which is tolerated in Sweden but banished in the rest of the EU, is also expected to be maintained - and even strengthened - since the new rules on flavourings would oblige the Swedish to market a less attractive snus as it would be without liquorice, bergamot or lemon flavourings. Lastly the Commission wants to curb the sale of contraband cigarettes - which has spread at a dizzying speed with prices defying all competition on the internet - by proposing a single identifier.
John Dalli takes Swedish Match to court. Pushed to resign from his post of European commissioner after an OLAF (European anti-fraud office) inquiry for trading favours (see EUROPE 10712), Dalli has announced that he has lodged a complaint with the Brussels court of first instance against Swedish Match, which is at the origin of the affair. Dalli accuses Swedish Match of peddling false information about him, saying that he had been the object of intense lobbying from the group so as to weaken his proposal for a directive with regard to snus. Dalli has said that he also plans other action - before the European Court of Justice and possibly before the European Court of Human Rights. (IL/transl.fl)