Brussels, 11/12/2002 (Agence Europe) - Opinions at the European Parliament on the European Court of Justice's ruling confirming the legality of the Tobacco Products Directive (banning of the terms "mild" or "light": see Europe yesterday p 16). The Dutch Liberal rapporteur at the EP, Jules Maaten was very pleased with the result and pointed out that, "This landmark ruling shows that the Parliament was legally right to war Europeans of the dangers of tobacco use. The industry took us to court as usual, and yet again has had to bite the dust. From today onwards, Europe is more advanced than any other part of the world in combating tobacco addiction." Mr Maaten added that, "In my country, the Netherlands, over a third of young smokers have indicated that bigger health warnings helped convince them to stop smoking, and they have only appeared on packs for six months".
On the other hand, CDU MEPs, Joachim Wuermeling, attacked the ruling, which he described as a clear step backwards in the delimitation of EU competencies.