No place for secrecy in tobacco talks - EC fails transparency test

It is disheartening that, as David Cameron negotiates with the European Union to try to reshape Britain’s relationship with the bloc, the European Commission should offer a perfect example of how the EU and the EC have become so remote, untrustworthy, and symbolic of a growing democratic deficit.

That Britain may quit the EU, and all of the consequences that would bring for this island, hinges on these talks makes this latest bureaucratic hubris all the more difficult to take.

Offering, albeit unintentionally, eurosceptics another stick to beat the EU with, European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly strongly criticised the EC’s refusal to make its dealings with the tobacco industry more transparent, and accused the EC of ignoring World Health Organization (WHO) disclosure rules. The EC rejected the findings insisting it observes WHO rules. Irrespective of rules or any Jesuitical hair-splitting, all contacts between the EU or the EC — and all national governments — and tobacco should be immediately published in their entirety. This demand comes after decades of tobacco dishonesty aimed at cowering national legislators to allow them to continue to sell their toxic products and kill the customers they addict to their hateful products.