Brussels, 08/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission does not intend to apply the recommendations by the European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, on transparency. In a letter published on Monday 8 February, the Commission said that it was pointless to take additional measures for complying with Article 5.3 in the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
This issue goes back to 2013. Following a number of letters that were sent out, the Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) addressed the European Ombudsman in May 2014 on the grounds that the Commission had failed to respect its obligations during its meetings with the tobacco lobby. According to the CEO, several Commission officials met (without mentioning it publicly) lobbyists from the tobacco industry who sought to influence the tobacco directive revision process. The CEO referred to 14 confidential meetings that involved officials from the Secretary-General and President Barroso's Cabinet. Contrary to the Commission, the CEO considers that these meetings are incompatible with Article 5.3 of the FCTC in its attempts to control the tobacco (FCTC/COP3 (7) Decision). This provision stipulates that “the guidelines for implementation of Article 5.3 are designed to assist Parties in setting and implementing public health policies with respect to tobacco control and in protecting these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry”.
After having received the version from the Commission (October 2014) and the one from the CEO (December 2014), the Ombudsman gave its backing to the NGO and argued that the Commission's approach to publicising meetings with tobacco lobbyists was “inadequate, unreliable and unsatisfactory”.
In a recommendation published on 1 October 2015, she expressed her concern at the Commission claim that meetings with lawyers representing the tobacco industry were not meetings for the purpose of lobbying. She subsequently urged the Commission to proactively publish online all meetings with tobacco lobbyists and their legal representatives, as well as the minutes from these meetings. She also called on the directorates general (not just DG Health and Food Safety, which is currently the case) to comply with strict rules on transparency “as all Directorates are involved in legislative and policy areas relating to tobacco control”. She concluded by calling on all the respective institutions and agencies that play a political role, to implement FCTC rules for their officials.
Despite the new college of commissioners, the Commission does not always appear receptive to the appeals made by civil society. In response to the recommendations by the Ombudsman, the Juncker Commission has simply reasserted (as it did in October 2014) that it has indeed respected the UN Convention on transparency and the guidelines stemming from it. It denies any secret meetings taking place and adds that it considers that its “ethical frameworks (rules on the status of officials, implementation rules, practical guide on conduct and ethics, code of conduct for Commissioners, administrative code of conduct for members of the Commission in their relations with the public, etc.), as well as its rules on access to documents and transparency, constitute a framework that is totally in keeping with the UN Convention”. Consequently, it considers that there is no reason to apply the rules of DG Health (stricter rules) to the other Directorates General because these “specific rules” relate to “specific domains of responsibility”.
Olivier Hoedeman, the CEO coordinator, said “The assumed rejection by the European Commission, to take into account the recommendations from the Ombudsman and making a firm commitment to transparency, effectively represents a lost opportunity”. In a press release, the organisation was particularly vexed by the Commission argument that the tobacco industry's legal representatives are “legal experts” and not lobbyists. It also regretted the fact that the Commission considers that there are now fewer risks given that the directive on tobacco products has been adopted. The CEO considers that “this kind of argument ignores the fact that the tobacco lobby is now focusing on other subjects, such as trade policy (TTIP and others), renewing the controversial agreements in the fight against contraband and counterfeit goods and the appropriate use of technology for preventing counterfeiting”.
The Ombudsman will now have to request a formal response from the CEO, given the lack of binding powers, to close this dossier, by drafting a robust report in its defence. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)