The tobacco industry has been influencing policy to its advantage for decades – postponing, protesting, promoting untruths, playing the victim and pushing new technologies – in order to disrupt tobacco control policies.
The World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is the best global tool to combat tobacco industry interference, providing clear guidelines to protect public-health policies and reduce tobacco-related deaths.
New research on industry lobbying
A new report, authored by Olivier Hoedeman of Corporate Europe Observatory and Sascha Marschang and George Thurley of the European Public Health Alliance, analyses key contacts between the European Commission and the tobacco industry to better understand why the Commission has struggled to implement a consistent policy around industry meetings.
The report was funded by the Tobacco Control Research Group (TCRG) and produced by STOP, a global tobacco industry watchdog, in which TCRG is the research partner.
Research materials
Download the full report or a short explainer to read about the seven identified tactics Big Tobacco uses to lobby the European Commission.
A webinar to discuss the report was held on 24 March 2021, hosted by MEP Zeljana Zovko EPP, Croatia and MEP Manuel Pizarro S&D, Portugal. You can view a recording of the webinar by visiting the EPHA website.