Brussels, 03/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - To strengthen efforts in the fight against tobacco, a number of mainly French and Belgian MEPs announced in Brussels on Tuesday 3 March that a European Parliament working group was being set up to “counter the interference of the tobacco industry in public policies”.
This working group will be made up of 40 MEPs from all groups, including Gilles Pargneaux (S&D, France), Françoise Grossetête (EPP, France), Robert Rochefort (ALDE, France), Frédérique Ries (ALDE, Belgium), José Bové (Greens/EFA, France), Bart Staes (Green/EFA, Belgium), Michèle Rivasi (Greens/EFA, France), Martina Anderson (GUE/NGL, Ireland), Eleonora Evi (EFDD, Italy) and Fabio Massimo Castaldo (EFDD, Italy).
Tobacco kills almost six million people a year, including 700,000 in Europe. This number could rise to eight million by 2030, according to figures quoted by the MEPs.
Effective measures to cut tobacco consumption are essentially taxation and restricting cigarette manufacturers' marketing and commercial offers. “One of the major difficulties in applying them is the interference of the tobacco industry in our public policies”, say the MEPs.
The philosophy of the working group will be to “build a new anti-tobacco policy which does not affect smokers and tobacco shops but which targets tobacco manufacturers who are at the root of the problem”.
The first meeting of the working group will be in a few weeks' time. The group has five priorities: - ensuring ambitious transposition of the tobacco directive, encouraging the member states to go beyond what is called for; - demanding that the EU and the member states apply Article 5.3 of the World Health Organisation's framework convention on tobacco control strictly and without delay; - demanding the ratification and application of the WHO protocol which seeks to end the illegal trade in tobacco; - preventing renewal of “cooperation agreements” between the EU and tobacco manufacturers; - establishing a link between the “generic package” and “independent traceability of tobacco products”.
The 200 lobbyists recruited by the sector's three giants (Philip Morris, British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco) had a budget of €5 million to scupper the tobacco directive. “That is, one lobbyist per 3.5 MEPs.” The forced resignation of European Health Commissioner John Dalli and files listing MEPs as being either pro- or anti-tobacco (produced by Philip Morris) give a sad indication of the situation, the MEPs note. (Lionel Changeur)