EU Ombudsman launches inquiry into Commission tobacco lobby contacts

The European Ombudsman has reopened a dispute that Brussels officials hoped was closed. Teresa Anjinho announced on 20 August a formal inquiry into how the Commission's trade department, DG TRADE, manages its contacts with tobacco industry representatives. The move follows a complaint from Contre-Feu, a French anti-tobacco NGO, which argues that the department engaged in regular, non-necessary and non-transparent interactions with lobbyists in ways that risk undermining tobacco control policies abroad, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

A treaty obligation the Commission says it respects

The legal backbone of the complaint is the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which the European Union ratified in 2005. Article 5.3 of the treaty obliges parties to protect public health policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry. Guidelines adopted in 2008 specify that interactions should be limited to those strictly necessary and conducted transparently. The Commission insists it complies. A spokesperson told reporters that meetings are avoided unless strictly necessary and, when held, are fully documented and transparent.

That assurance echoes the line taken after the Ombudsman's 2023 ruling, which found maladministration in the Commission's failure to ensure transparency across all departments when dealing with tobacco lobbyists. The inquiry also concluded that the Commission had not systematically assessed whether specific meetings were actually needed. At the time, the executive promised tighter internal controls. Contre-Feu's complaint suggests those controls have not worked, at least not in DG TRADE.

The Philip Morris precedent

The current inquiry revives details from a joint investigation published last year by POLITICO and the Examination, a Dutch investigative platform. That reporting documented multiple meetings between Commission officials and Philip Morris International (PMI) and identified at least three occasions on which staffers took action that could be seen as benefiting the company. In one exchange, a PMI representative wrote to Commission staff that their actions regarding a tobacco tax in Turkey were "of great help for us" and expressed gratitude. PMI did not comment on the investigation but states on its website that it shares perspectives with policymakers and is particularly active on policies concerning less harmful alternatives, trade, fiscal matters and intellectual property.

The Turkish tax episode illustrates the practical stakes. When Ankara proposed a levy that would have hit heated tobacco products harder than cigarettes, PMI lobbied against it. The Commission subsequently raised concerns with Turkish authorities about the proposal's compatibility with EU-Turkey trade relations. Critics argue that such interventions blur the line between defending European commercial interests and doing the industry's regulatory work for it.

Diageo retreats from Brussels as alcohol labelling pressure builds

While the tobacco inquiry unfolds, another major consumer goods company is scaling back its Brussels footprint. Diageo, the Guinness-to-Johnnie Walker spirits giant, plans to close its EU liaison office and centralise lobbying through a global team in London, according to a report in Ireland's Business Post confirmed by a source familiar with the discussions. The move is part of a $1 billion restructuring unveiled by chief executive Dave Lewis, the former Tesco boss nicknamed "Drastic Dave" for his aggressive cost-cutting. Diageo's EU Transparency Register entry lists three full-time lobbyists and annual lobbying expenditure of €700,000 to €799,999.

The timing is notable. Europe's alcohol sector faces mounting pressure for mandatory health warnings on labels. Ireland was set to become the first member state to introduce cancer warnings in May 2026 but delayed implementation to late 2028 after Washington signalled potential tariff retaliation against Irish beverage exports. The World Health Organization has repeatedly urged European governments to highlight the alcohol-cancer link more forcefully. Diageo's withdrawal from the Brussels advocacy arena suggests the company calculates that a leaner, London-based operation can manage these fights without a permanent presence in the EU quarter.

Diamonds, a gold ring and a tariff exemption

A third lobbying controversy spans the Atlantic. Two Democratic US senators, Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal, have written to the president of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), Isidore Mörsel, and to David Gotlib, founder of a Belgian luxury cufflinks brand, questioning whether a lavish gift to Donald Trump secured a tariff exemption for European natural diamonds. The gift was an 18-carat gold ring encrusted with 321 diamonds and 75 gemstones, presented during the US 250th anniversary celebrations at Cinquantenaire Park in Brussels in June.

The sequence is striking. The diamond sector secured a zero-percent tariff in September 2025. When the US Supreme Court struck down Trump's broader tariff authority, the administration imposed a 10 percent global tariff for 150 days. AWDC said it was hit. A month after the ring presentation, the Trump administration exempted European natural diamonds from the new tariffs. AWDC insists the tariff discussions were entirely separate from the gift, which it says was designed solely for the independence celebration. The White House has denied any favouritism. Gotlib's company called the quid pro quo suggestion a misreading of both facts and intent.

Health policy's Alpine gathering loses EU money

Back in Brussels, the European Health Forum Gastein, the annual autumn conference that draws health ministers, Commission officials, NGOs and industry to a small Austrian town, will operate without its usual EU grant this year. Dorli Kahr-Gottlieb, secretary general of the organising body, confirmed that the 2026 funding application was unsuccessful. For the past two years the Commission contributed roughly €180,000. Kahr-Gottlieb said the forum has a diverse funding model and remains committed to convening leading voices in European health policy. The loss of guaranteed public money forces greater reliance on industry sponsorship, a dynamic that some public health advocates have long warned could compromise the event's independence.

MEPs demand answers from FIFA

In the European Parliament, a cross-party group of six MEPs has written to FIFA president Gianni Infantino demanding he appear before the culture committee. The letter, drafted by Polish MEP Bogdan Zdrojewski and signed by colleagues from the Socialists & Democrats, European Conservatives and Reformists, Renew, Greens and The Left, cites "grave concerns" about the leadership, governance and direction of football's governing body. The immediate trigger is a recently abandoned plan to privatise the World Cup's commercial operations. The MEPs write that they trust Infantino will accept the invitation "in the spirit of transparency and democratic accountability that FIFA has itself endorsed." Whether he appears is another matter; FIFA is not an EU body and has no formal obligation to respond to a parliamentary summons.

A new parliamentary interest group for two-wheelers

Parliament has also seen the creation of a new cross-party interest group representing users of motorcycles, scooters and mopeds. It is chaired by German Renew MEP Andreas Glück, with a board that includes Matej Tonin of Slovenia (EPP), Bernd Lange of Germany (S&D) and Nora Junco García of Spain (ECR). The group's formation reflects the growing organisation of powered two-wheeler advocates at EU level, particularly around urban mobility, emissions standards and road safety legislation.

For the Commission, the tobacco inquiry is a test of institutional memory. The 2023 maladministration finding was supposed to have triggered systemic change. If Anjinho concludes that DG TRADE continued business as usual, the political cost will be higher than any single meeting. The executive's ability to lecture candidate countries on transparency and public health protection depends on its own house being in order. Right now, that claim looks shaky.