EU tobacco lobby fails to sway Finnish MEPs

An exceptionally intensive lobbying effort has not been successful in persuading Finnish MEPs to oppose tighter regulations on their business. Just one of the thirteen MEPs say they will oppose the new regulations, but Finnish support may not be enough after the EU parliament delayed a crucial vote.

On 5 September, a crucial vote on the new measures was delayed until 8 October. That means time is running out to implement the proposed law before the EU presidency passes from Lithuania to Greece.

Tobacco companies have reportedly funded an intensive lobbying effort in response to the proposed restrictions. The Guardian published a report on Phillip Morris International’s (PMI) lobbying strategy yesterday, detailing the company’s efforts to influence the parliament’s legislative process. The Guardian reported that PMI had employed 161 people to try and sway MEPs, and that they had claimed 1.25 million euros in expenses for meetings with politicians in the first six months of 2012, meeting 233 MEPs by 22 June 2012.

Finnish MEPs were not immune from the lobbying, reporting thousands of emails and intense pressure over the bill. In Finland, cigarette packs contained leaflets asking smokers to email MEPs to ask about the legislation. Some MEPs were largely left alone by the lobbyists themselves, while others were contacted more often. “There has been contact, opinions sent and requests to meet and discuss points of view,” said Eija-Riitta Korhola of the National Coalition party. The different experiences may be explained by the Guardian’s documents: they appear to show a preference for contacting liberal and center-right MEPs. The lobbying of Finnish MEPs was not that effective, with only Sampo Terho of the Finns party saying he believes legislation should remain as it is. The other Finnish MEPs favor tighter restrictions.

“On public health grounds, the benefit of reducing tobacco usage is undeniable,” said Anneli Jäätteenmäki of the Center party. “According to the World Health Organisation five million people die each year from tobacco-related illnesses.” No more pretty fag packets? The proposed regulation would ban menthol and other flavored tobacco products, introduce larger health warnings featuring pictures of patients suffering from tobacco-related diseases, and classify cigarettes as pharmaceutical products.

The idea is to prevent tobacco companies from using strategies that would attract younger smokers, something that Satu Hassi of the Green League is particularly keen on. She wants to eliminate tobacco products aimed at attracting new smokers. “These aromatic ingredients, and small, pretty, for example lipstick-red packaging,” said Hassi. “The tobacco industry knows that their customers die before long, more than half of them from tobacco-related diseases.”

Source: http://yle.fi/uutiset/eu_tobacco_lobby_fails_to_sway_finnish_meps/6825210