Tobacco companies and smokers do not pay enough tax to cover the health impact of cigarettes, which leaves non-smokers picking up the bill.
In its reviews of the country’s aid spending at the start of December, the British government awarded multinational aid organisations grades based on the “value for money” they offer British taxpayers.
If Health Commissioner John Dalli had to resign because of undisclosed meetings with tobacco lobbyists, shouldn’t the same logic apply to high-level Commission officials in Barroso’s cabinet, at the Secretariat-General and other DGs?
Around 97 full-time lobbyists defend the interests of the tobacco industry in Brussels, and the industry’s total annual lobbying budget in the EU capital exceeds €5.3 million, according to entries in the EU’s voluntary Transparency Register and conservative estimates. But these figures are only the tip of the iceberg.