EU officials’ contacts with tobacco industry under scrutiny after new report questions transparency

A new report by two anti-tobacco advocacy groups has raised concerns about the transparency of interactions between European Union officials and the tobacco industry, prompting renewed debate over how Brussels manages contacts with companies involved in products with significant public-health impacts.

The study, published by the watchdog organisations STOP and Contre-Feu, analysed official disclosures and communications between EU institutions and major tobacco manufacturers during 2023 and 2024. According to the report, at least eight meetings or exchanges involving EU officials and companies such as Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco were not fully documented in the official transparency registers.

Campaigners argue that such omissions risk undermining the EU’s commitments under the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which calls on governments to limit the influence of the tobacco industry on health policy. The report also identifies 257 meetings between Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and tobacco-sector representatives over the same period, estimating annual industry lobbying expenditure in Brussels at around €14 million.

The researchers say the documented exchanges included emails, phone calls, and meeting requests concerning regulatory issues and international tobacco control policy. Some communications, they argue, appeared to relate to EU diplomatic engagement with third countries on tobacco-related regulation.

EU institutions, however, dispute any suggestion of non-compliance. A spokesperson for the European Commission said the institution publishes details of applicable meetings in line with transparency rules and has “taken steps in recent years to improve and expand reporting practices.” The spokesperson also noted that contact with all regulated industries is part of standard policymaking, provided it adheres to the required safeguards.

Interactions between policymakers and the tobacco industry have long been a sensitive matter in Brussels due to the public-health implications and the EU’s international commitments. Transparency campaigners say closer oversight is needed to ensure full compliance with FCTC obligations, while the industry maintains that engagement is necessary to provide technical information and ensure workable regulations.

The report is likely to add momentum to ongoing discussions within the EU about strengthening transparency rules, particularly in sectors with elevated health and regulatory risks. For now, the European Commission insists that existing frameworks are being respected, while civil-society groups argue that the latest findings justify further scrutiny of how the EU manages and publishes its contacts with the tobacco sector.

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