Review of Tobacco Legislation to Go Ahead Once New Commissioner in Place
Von buycigarettes, 14:32
A planned review of European Union tobacco legislation will go ahead once the Health Commissioner post is filled, a spokeswoman for the EU executive said Wednesday. John Dalli, resigned as commissioner Tuesday following an investigation by OLAF, the EU's antifraud office, into a complaint made in May 2012 by tobacco producer Swedish Match AB (SWMA.SK).
The Swedish company alleged that a Maltese entrepreneur had used his contacts with Mr. Dalli, to try to gain financial advantages from the company in return for seeking to influence a possible future legislative proposal on tobacco products, in particular on the EU export ban on snus, the commission said. Snus is a tobacco powder that is placed under the lip.
In a briefing with reporters, EU spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen said that she hoped a replacement for Mr. Dalli would be found "swiftly." She said that "the preparations" for a review of tobacco legislation "are advanced but will only be taken forward" once a new commissioner is in place.
Ms. Ahrenkilde Hansen said the commission's decision-making process--quickly reporting the complaint to OLAF--showed the EU's "anti-corruption system works." Giovanni Kessler, director general of OLAF, said there was "unambiguous" evidence that Mr. Dalli was aware that a " person close to him" was requesting a "substantial" sum from the Swedish company. "Our conclusions are that he was aware of this and he didn't do anything to prevent, stop, report on this," Mr. Kessler said.
