Brussels, 19/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - MEPs Cristian Silviu Busoi (ALDE, Romania), co-president of the MEP Heart Group, Alojz Peterle (EPP, Slovenia) and Nessa Childers (S&D, Ireland), the chair and vice-chair respectively of MAC (MEPs Against Cancer) called for a strong anti-smoking directive at a mini-conference on the subject at the European Parliament in Brussels on 19 February. Health and Consumer Commissioner Tonio Borg pointed out the aims of the proposal, while Linda MacAvan (S&D, UK), rapporteur on the subject for the European Parliament, sketched out various ways of strengthening the draft directive. The European Parliament's position in first reading is expected after the summer break.
The previous EU directive dates from 2001 but is now out of date because cigarette manufacturers quickly found loopholes and ways of encouraging young people to smoke by providing attractive packaging, explained the MEPs on the MAC and MEP Heart Group. The proportion of young smokers (under the age of 15) has gone up on recent years, particularly in Italy and the Czech Republic, with very alarming increases in the number of girls smoking in Latvia, Hungary, Estonia and Slovakia. Commissioner Borg said that the main aim of the new directive was to dissuade children from taking up smoking. He said that tobacco products must look and taste like tobacco products, and for that reason the Commission is focussing on two key aspects, namely packaging and scent. The ill-effects of smoking do not affect smokers alone because passive smoking leads to cardiovascular disease in non-smokers too, explained Cristian Silviu Busoi. Childers expressed concern about the increase in cancer and cardiovascular disease caused by smoking. Florence Berteletti-Kemp of Smoke Free Partnership quoted some revealing figures. Every year, smoking is responsible for the deaths of 700,000 people in Europe and costs the social security system some €25 billion. It is important to clamp down on smoking to protect public health, but there is huge pressure from the tobacco lobby. In 2010, the six biggest tobacco companies made profits of more than $35 billion, more than Coca-Cola, MacDonald's and Microsoft combined, she pointed out. She said that doing something about packaging and having more health warnings were good ways of preventing young people from smoking.
In the first hearing, the European Parliament will focus on various aspects of the draft directive that need working on, like the dangers of electronic cigarettes, which cause real damage but tend to be played down, and “snus,” a substance that is legally on sale in Sweden but causes increased risk of pancreatic cancer. (IL/transl.fl)