Lobbying

March 14, 2020 / By mobanmarket

Lobbying

In October, Brussels witnessed a bout of intrigue and excitement over the sudden resignation of John Dalli, the European commissioner for health and consumer affairs. It was the first ever forced resignation of a individual commissioner mid-term because of allegations of misconduct. But what gave the resignation added piquancy was the involvement of the tobacco industry. What appeared initially to be a cut-and-dried case of impropriety soon mutated into an alleged conspiracy involving major tobacco interests. The full truth remains unclear, and MEPs are still demanding answers.

José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, demanded that Dalli resign after an investigation by OLAF, the EU’s anti-fraud office, found that he was aware that a Maltese intermediary was seeking money from a tobacco company in exchange for influencing Dalli’s opinion on tobacco legislation. So far the Commission has failed to provide evidence of any specific infraction by Dalli that violates the Commission’s code of conduct. Dalli plans to sue OLAF and the Commission for wrongful termination – though he admits he voluntarily gave an oral resignation to Barroso.

Malta’s nomination to replace Dalli, Tonio Borg, simply ratcheted up the controversy. Many MEPs refused to support the nomination because of statements that the then deputy prime minister of Malta had made on abortion and homosexuality. But after a solid performance at a packed confirmation hearing, Borg managed to win the support of a majority of MEPs despite the opposition of the Socialist, Liberal and Green groups.

When the proposal for new EU rules on tobacco finally emerged in December, Borg insisted that they adhered to the draft that his predecessor had planned. Many of the elements resisted by the tobacco lobby remain, including a ban on flavoured cigarettes and a requirement for pictorial warnings covering 75% of cigarette packets. But the Commission did omit other proposals that were fiercely opposed by the industry, including a ban on displaying cigarettes in stores and on logos or trademarks on packets.

For many, the Dalli affair exemplified a broader concern over the connections between industry and EU institutions. It followed a year of intense scrutiny of EU agencies by MEPs, who threatened to withhold approval of 2010 spending until their concerns were addressed. Much of the concern involved members of the European Food Safety

Authority’s board and their links to the food industry.

The agencies, in turn, have expressed mounting anxiety that their position in the EU hierarchy is becoming increasingly unclear. In December, the Commission launched an effort to clarify the situation, proposing common standards of management that should apply across the more than 30 decentralised agencies.

The European Parliament also raised concerns about transparency when it adopted a €300 threshold for declaring accommodation and travel provided free of charge to MEPs. Its leadership then blocked a debate about the threshold and referred a possible revision of the controversial rule to a working group, which has yet to report on its findings.