The European Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, called on the European Commission, on Tuesday 18 April, to respond to preliminary inquiry findings about a lack of transparency in its interactions with tobacco lobbyists.
Following a detailed examination of documents concerning Commission meetings with tobacco industry representatives in 2020 and 2021, the Ombudsman identified several transparency concerns.
Only the Directorate General for Health (DG SANTE) has proactively published records of all such meetings with its officials, irrespective of grade seniority. Other departments (Taxation, Trade, Internal Market and Climate Action) only proactively publish meetings with senior officials or Commissioners. Those taking place at less senior levels were not made public proactively. “This shows that the approach to tobacco lobbying has not changed since the Ombudsman’s last inquiry in 2016”.
In addition, the Commission did not keep minutes of all of the meetings that took place in 2020 and 2021. The Ombudsman therefore wonders how the Commission can reassure the public that its interactions with tobacco lobbyists do not undermine public health policies. The Ombudsman is asking the Commission to explain how it assesses the need for meetings with tobacco lobbyists.
See O’Reilly’s letter: https://aeur.eu/f/6cl (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)