EU commissioner resigns in tobacco-lobbying dispute

BRUSSELS - EU² health commissioner John Dalli³ has resigned "to defend his reputation" in a dispute on tobacco lobbying.

The European Commission said its top Maltese official stepped down on Tuesday (16 October) after his boss, Jose Manuel Barroso⁴, told him that Olaf, the EU's anti-fraud office, had filed a report on him on Monday.

The case concerns Swedish Match, a Stockholm-based firm which produces snus, a chewing tobacco.

Swedish Match complained to Brussels in May that a "Maltese entrepreneur" had asked it for money in return for using "his contacts" with Dalli to influence an upcoming EU ban on snus exports.

Olaf said "no payment was made" and that it "did not find any conclusive evidence of the direct participation of Mr Dalli." But it "did consider that he was aware of these events."

The commission noted that Dalli "categorically rejects these findings."

It added that the Olaf report has been sent to the attorney general of Malta and the Maltese judiciary will decide whether to follow up.

Internal affairs commissioner Maros Sefcovic⁵ is to take over Dalli's job for the time being. But Maltese press reports that the country's foreign minister, Tonio Borg, or its former EU ambassador, Richard Cachia Caruana, might take over in the long run.

The Brussels-based NGO, Corporate Europe Observatory, says the EU capital is currently the focus of intense lobbying over the final shape of a new directive on tobacco products due next year.

Ideas include a ban on point-of-sale advertising in shops - a proposal currently being fought by the London-based PR firm Luther Pendragon and CEDT, the tobacco retailers trade body.

Back in Malta, the news of his resignation was greeted by national media with little surprise.

Dalli in 2004 stepped down as Maltese foreign minister after allegations - later judged false - that a firm controlled by his contacts was selling airline tickets to diplomats.

He also faced accusations of corruption over the sale of Mid-Med Bank for a tiny sum to foreign buyers when he was finance minister back in the 1990s.

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  Deze onafhankelijke Engelstalige online-krant richt zich op het verslaan van nieuws rond de Europese Unie. Naast nieuwsberichten verschijnen op de site ook opiniestukken en blogs. EUobserver.com trekt dagelijks rond de 60.000 bezoekers.
   
• 2. 

  De Europese Unie (EU) is het belangrijkste samenwerkingsverband in Europa. De deelnemende landen hebben voor deze Unie een aantal organisaties opgericht waaraan zij een deel van hun eigen bevoegdheden hebben overgedragen. Dit zijn onder meer het Europees Parlement, de Europese Commissie, de Raad en het Europese Hof van Justitie.
   
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  De Maltees John Dalli (1948) was van februari 2010 tot oktober 2012 lid van de Europese Commissie, belast met gezondheid en consumentenbeleid. Hij was daarvoor minister van Sociaal Beleid namens de centrumrechtse Nationalistische Partij. Dalli werkte aanvankelijk als accountant en had financiële functies bij een Amerikaans textielbedrijf in Malta. In 1987 werd Dalli parlementslid. Hij bekleedde diverse ministersposten, zoals die van financiën en Buitenlandse Zaken en Bevordering van investeringen. In 2004 trad hij af vanwege beschuldigingen over machtsmisbruik, maar in 2007 werd hij volledig gerehabiliteerd. Hij trad in 2012 af als eurocommissaris na aantijgingen over het inzetten van zijn netwerk en invloed ten faveure van een Maltese tabaksproducent.
   
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  José Manuel Durão Barroso (1956) is president of the European Commission. He has been in office since the 18th of November 2004. Prior to his installation as Commission president Barroso served as state secretary for foreign affairs and prime minister of Portugal. He holds a degree in political sciences and has worked in academia for a number of years. Barroso is member of the PSD (Partido Social Democrata), a centre-right party allied to the European People's Party.
   
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  Maroš Sefčovič (1966) is a Commission Vice-President and the European Commissioner for institutional affairs in the Commission-Von der Leyen on behalf of Slovakia. Since August 22nd 2023 he is also responsible for the Green Deal and - temporarily - climate policy. He was Commissionar for the energy union in the Juncker Commission and in the Barroso II Commission Sefčovič held the post of institutional affairs. Sefčovič is a member of the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), which is aligned with the European People's Party.