By Kathryn Kranhold and Jason McLure of The Examination and Rory O’Neill and Antonia Zimmermann of POLITICO. This article was reported in collaboration with The Examination, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates global health threats. BRUSSELS — When the world’s largest tobacco company needed help lifting international restrictions on its products, it enlisted an unlikely ally: the European Union, a leader in tobacco control.  EU officials met with Philip Morris International representatives at least six times from September 2022 through 2024, according to documents released through public records requests. The tobacco giant’s agenda: Enlist EU officials’ help in loosening restrictions or setting favorable tax rates on its products — including IQOS, a heated tobacco device key to the company’s future — in 10 countries outside the EU. Officials with the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, took action at least three times that would have benefitted the company, The Examination and POLITICO found. They published a notice saying Mexico’s ban on new nicotine products was a possible barrier to free trade. They asked Turkish officials whether they planned to maintain the country’s requirement that cigarettes contain a minimum amount of local tobacco. And in a high-level report for EU officials, they flagged that rule and Turkey’s cigarette tax rate as issues that could affect ties between it and the EU.  The Commission’s actions regarding Turkey were “of great help for us,” a PMI representative wrote to staffers at the Commission. “We would like to express our gratitude in regard of (sic) the actions that you took.”  A Philip Morris International representative thanked European Commission trade officials for flagging Turkey’s cigarette tax and a rule on domestic tobacco as possible trade issues. (Redactions by the European Commission. Highlighting by The Examination) The revelations, contained in documents released through public information requests by the French anti-tobacco group Contre-Feu, raise questions about whether the EU breached its commitment to a global treaty to combat smoking signed by the EU and member countries. Guidelines to implement that treaty — the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) — say that when setting and implementing public health policies, governments should restrict their dealings with the tobacco industry and disclose any meetings whenever possible. None of the meetings with PMI or other industry groups cited in the documents were disclosed, according to The Examination and POLITICO’s review of the EU’s disclosure websites. The “fact that EU officials acted upon PMI’s requests signals a troubling willingness to give the tobacco industry privileged access. That is precisely what the FCTC was designed to prevent,” said Tilly Metz, a member of the European Parliament with the Greens. “It undermines both public trust and the EU’s credibility as a global leader in tobacco control.” A spokesperson for the European Commission told The Examination and POLITICO  that it “strictly follows” the treaty guidelines. But tobacco products are covered by EU trade policy, and the Commission can negotiate tariffs and trade rules, the spokesperson said.  “The Commission does not shape, influence or lobby for specific health policies in third countries on behalf of any industry,” the spokesperson said.  While industry associations and companies can share concerns on market access in non-EU countries with the Commission, and the Commission may meet with complainants to get more information, the spokesperson said such meetings are “strictly related to trade facilitation and market access.” European parliamentarians appeared divided over whether the dealings were improper.  Vytenis Andriukaitis with the Socialists and Democrats and a former EU health commissioner said the European Commission “cannot represent the interests of tobacco companies,” nor “press other countries to weaken” their tobacco controls. Barry Andrews, a member of the centrist Renew Europe Group, said: “These regular meetings with big tobacco lobbyists and the flurry of emails should not have happened.” By contrast, Stine Bosse, a member of the same political group, said: “The tobacco industry has every right to employ lobbyists.” However, Bosse added: “Morally, I stand in a very different place. While they constantly try to reinvent new products to get people hooked on nicotine and tobacco, I am fighting for precisely the opposite.”  Philip Morris International did not answer questions from The Examination and POLITICO about its dealing with EU officials. On its website, the company said it shares its perspectives with policymakers and it is “particularly active with respect to policies regarding less harmful alternatives to cigarettes, trade and fiscal matters, and intellectual property.” (The company is separate from Philip Morris USA, which is part of Altria Group.) The Examination and POLITICO have not found evidence that any of the 10 countries targeted by PMI altered their tobacco taxes or regulations following meetings with EU officials, including where the EU took action with regard to Mexico and Turkey. Most of PMI’s entreaties focused on IQOS, which it says is better than cigarettes because heating tobacco releases fewer toxins than burning it. Public health experts say the long-term risks of heated tobacco are unknown and products like IQOS could increase tobacco use. IQOS devices with heated tobacco sticks. Philip Morris International says IQOS is better than cigarettes because heating tobacco releases fewer toxins than burning it. Public health experts say the long-term risks of heated tobacco are unknown. | Roberto Pfeil/picture alliance via Getty Images Public health advocates said Commission officials’ actions were especially surprising because the EU has been one of the strongest supporters of the FCTC.  This year, the Commission proposed hiking EU-wide taxes on most tobacco products and setting minimum taxes for vapes and heated tobacco for the first time. Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi has pledged to drive e-cigarette taxes even higher; his tax counterpart, Wopke Hoekstra, has called vapes the “revenge of the tobacco industry.” The countries that PMI sought help with were outside the EU. Nearly all of them — Argentina, Brazil, India, Mexico, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam — had banned heated tobacco. Taiwan had what PMI described as a burdensome approval process. Japanese leaders were in discussions to raise taxes on heated tobacco to the same rate as cigarettes. Philip Morris International asked for the EU’s help in loosening restrictions or setting favorable tax rates on its IQOS product in 10 countries outside the EU. (Redactions by the European Commission. Highlighting by The Examination) PMI officials wanted people in those countries to be able to buy IQOS as easily as cigarettes. The company calls IQOS part of its “dream team” of alternative nicotine products, including e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches, that are meant to offset declining cigarette consumption.  So the company sought help in the EU’s distinctive 15-story glass trade building, the Charlemagne, in Brussels. PMI SEEKS HELP IN MEXICO Mexico was the first country that PMI sought help with, according to the documents. That country was a key market for IQOS, but a ban on vapes and heated tobacco was set to go into effect in December 2022.  In an investor meeting on Sept. 6, 2022, an analyst asked about IQOS’ “lack of success” in the Americas. Emmanuel Babeau, the company’s chief financial officer, blamed “some restrictions” in Mexico but said, “it’s going to be a very successful market for IQOS once we can really sell the device really without any issue.” That same day, company staff had an online meeting with EU officials to discuss the ban. It was one of several discussions about Mexico. After the ban went into effect, PMI sought more help from EU officials. In an April 3, 2023, email, an executive at the company’s Swiss office asked for another meeting, explaining that Mexico’s “business environment is still marked by uncertainty, judicial processes, interpretations, and doubtful, temporary and unclear administrative acts.”    After a ban on vapes and heated tobacco went into effect in Mexico, Philip Morris International sought more help from EU officials. (Redactions by the European Commission. Highlighting by The Examination) Soon after the email, European trade officials issued what is known as a barrier to trade notice, reporting Mexico’s IQOS ban as a potential trade treaty violation. PMI representatives and trade officials met later that month, when the company contended similar bans in Argentina, Brazil and Vietnam were trade barriers, according to a Commission report summarizing the meeting. The Commission spokesperson said it had acted in response to a formal complaint that “involved discriminatory treatment of like products” and that it did not undertake any further action regarding Mexico. Mexico’s Supreme Court struck down the ban in November 2024, allowing PMI to continue selling IQOS there.  The correspondence shows how PMI leveraged its status as a major European employer and exporter. The company employed more than 21,500 people in Europe as of 2023 and had 20 manufacturing sites there. In one email, a PMI representative told a European trade official that a meeting would be a “good opportunity to update you [on] the most recent data on EU exports in the tobacco sector and PMI’s investments in the EU.” OFFICIALS QUESTION TURKEY’S TAXES, RULES ON LOCAL TOBACCO EU officials also assisted PMI in trying to change rules on cigarettes.  In July 2023, a company representative complained to EU officials about Turkey’s cigarette tax, saying in an email that Turkey had “one of the highest ad valorem duty levels in the world.” The representative also flagged Turkey’s “local content” rule, which required that cigarettes made and sold in the country contain a certain amount of domestic tobacco. The PMI representative wrote that the company had “prepared a few suggestions” for the Commission’s upcoming report on Turkey’s economic and diplomatic relationships with the EU.  That report, which came out in November 2023, flagged Turkey’s taxes and the local content rule. That elicited the email from PMI thanking EU officials for their help. Meanwhile, the company was pushing European Commission officials to raise the local content rule again, but in a different forum: an upcoming World Trade Organization (WTO) review of Turkey’s trade policies. PMI provided EU trade officials with questions to ask Turkey. EU officials then submitted a question prior to the review, asking whether the local content requirement for tobacco and other industries would continue, according to meeting minutes. The Commission spokesperson did not directly answer questions from The Examination and POLITICO about its actions regarding Turkey. Turkey has not changed its requirements on local tobacco or its tax rate.  MEETINGS PART OF A MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR LOBBYING EFFORT The meetings are part of an industry lobby that spends $16.2 million (14 million euros) a year in the EU, according to a report by Contre-Feu and STOP, another anti-tobacco group, released Wednesday. Contre-Feu mapped a network of 49 organizations and companies, including Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco, that lobbied the European Commission and Parliament to weaken tobacco regulations and set lower taxes on new nicotine products, both within and outside the EU. (British American Tobacco did not respond to requests for comment.) The interactions between the tobacco industry and EU officials appear to be extensive, according to the documents. They include several dozen email exchanges and refer to at least nine meetings between EU officials and tobacco companies or industry-supported groups.  In addition to the six meetings with PMI, there were three other meetings with tobacco representatives. Trade staff met with three other companies and a tobacco trade group in March 2024 to hear their requests for more favorable tariff rules for new nicotine products. In a separate video conference, British American Tobacco asked trade staff to intervene at a WTO hearing over Saudi Arabia’s proposed tax hike on e-cigarette cartridges. (The EU did not take action, according to the documents.) And in a third meeting, the EU’s former agriculture commissioner, a Polish member of the EU parliament and two tobacco farming lobby groups discussed tobacco subsidies and the Commission’s position on the global tobacco treaty. Nathalie Darge, secretary general of Tobacco Europe, the trade group included in one of those meetings, said its input focused on technical requirements and that it wanted to “ensure legal certainty for operators and customs authorities.” One European Commission report recapping a meeting with PMI was sent to 32 trade department officials and staff, including EU representatives assigned to Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Vietnam and division directors. Contre-Feu wrote that the dealings between government officials and tobacco representatives showed that “current rules to limit industry influence are falling short and European policymakers continue to be heavily lobbied by the tobacco industry and those working on its behalf.” PMI’s efforts are part of a long history of the tobacco industry using trade and investment pacts to expand markets and undermine health policies, said Suzanne Zhou, who works for the World Health Organization FCTC Knowledge Hub on Legal Challenges and a senior fellow at the Melbourne Law School in Australia. “Tobacco companies have lost the argument from a health perspective,” Zhou said. “So they are reframing the issue as a trade issue in the hopes that they can advance their interests in that forum instead.”  In the 1980s, the U.S. Trade Representative threatened sanctions if Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Thailand didn’t open their markets to U.S. cigarette companies. A study later concluded that cigarette consumption in those four markets was nearly 10 percent higher than it would have been if they had remained closed to U.S. companies.  More recently, Australia and Uruguay faced trade litigation from the industry or industry-aligned governments over their tobacco control policies.  COMMISSION CRITICIZED FOR UNDISCLOSED MEETINGS Contre-Feu contended that the documents also show that EU officials didn’t disclose meetings with the industry when they should have. To aid countries in implementing the tobacco treaty, delegates wrote a set of guidelines. They state that when setting and implementing public health policies, interactions with the tobacco industry should be limited to what is strictly necessary for effective regulation. Interactions should be conducted in public and disclosed whenever possible. And the guidelines emphasize that “all branches of government” should be made aware of industry efforts to interfere with policies. The Commission spokesperson said that’s exactly what it does: “Meetings with the tobacco industry are avoided, unless they are strictly necessary. If the applicable conditions are met, meetings are held in a fully transparent manner and are appropriately documented.” But EU trade officials did not disclose any of these meetings on the website where the trade department reports such contacts. One batch of documents was released through a request for access; another batch was obtained by Contre-Feu. One of the meetings not disclosed by trade officials occurred in July 2023. Global health leaders were scheduled to meet that November to update the FCTC. The European Commission was considering supporting strict limitations on heated tobacco products.  A Commission report summarizing a July 19, 2023, meeting with PMI said that the company had “alerted” the Commission about language “calling on WHO members to adopt import bans on heated tobacco products.” The company asserted that EU tobacco policy should take into account WTO agreements, which the company has contended would preclude countries from banning IQOS.  Philip Morris International met with European Commission trade officials in July 2023 to discuss a proposed change to a global tobacco control treaty that would have banned heated tobacco. Though such meetings are supposed to be disclosed, this one wasn’t. (Redactions by the European Commission. Highlighting by The Examination) The documents don’t say anything about whether the Commission took action, and tobacco-friendly countries in the EU such as Italy and Greece pushed back against restrictive guidelines. But in the end, the Commission took no position on heated tobacco— a victory for the industry.  During the period covered by the documents, the EU required only high-ranking Commission officials to report meetings with companies or special-interest groups. In December 2024, the Commission tightened rules to require disclosure by additional staff. It’s unclear whether those rules would’ve required disclosure of these meetings.  Former EU ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, found other instances in which the Commission didn’t disclose meetings with the tobacco industry, which she concluded failed to meet transparency rules required under international law.  Contre-Feu has urged the EU to tighten transparency guidelines even further by extending disclosure requirements to all staff, among other things. The group said in its report that the extensive lobbying and lack of disclosure “reveal either a repeated violation of the FCTC by the European Commission or, at the very least, an insufficient implementation of the treaty’s measures.” Mathieu Tourliere of Proceso contributed reporting. STOP has received support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, which also provides financial support to The Examination. The Examination operates independently and is solely responsible for its content. Correction: This story has been corrected to say that the report on tobacco industry lobbying was jointly published by Contre-Feu and STOP, and that STOP has received support from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Europe has the highest rate of tobacco use in the world, overtaking Southeast Asia, a report from the World Health Organization found Monday. Just under a quarter (24.1 percent) of people aged 15 and over in Europe use tobacco, more than in any other WHO region, according to data from 2024. Women in the broader Europe region also have the highest global prevalence at 17.4 percent, the report found. The study also recorded global vaping rates for the first time; the WHO said the figures were especially “alarming” among young people. The data lands as the European Commission pledges to take a harder line against tobacco and vape products, with the EU health and tax commissioners pushing to hike taxes on both to curb related illnesses such as cancer and heart disease. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director general, said tobacco control efforts prevent millions of people from smoking. But, “the tobacco industry is fighting back with new nicotine products, aggressively targeting young people,” he said, urging governments to act “faster and stronger” in implementing proven tobacco control policies. TAKING THE LEAD Globally, in 2024, there were an estimated 1.2 billion tobacco users aged 15 years and older. Tobacco prevalence is falling worldwide, but at a slower rate in Europe than other regions. The figures for the WHO’s Europe region include 53 countries and stretch as far east as Russia. However, the latest EU data also matches the WHO’s findings — a Eurobarometer survey from June 2024 found that 24 percent of people in the bloc smoked tobacco. Prevalence in Europe fell from almost 35 percent in 2000 to a little over 24 percent in 2020. In Southeast Asia, meanwhile, tobacco consumption has plummeted from around 54 percent to over 23 percent during the same period. Meanwhile, there were over 86 million adults who vape worldwide in 2024, the report found. The Americas and Europe had the highest prevalence rates of people aged 15 and over who use vapes, at 4.8 percent and 4.6 percent respectively. The WHO pointed to “concerning” data among adolescents aged 13 to 15, where around 7.2 percent use e-cigarettes globally, equating to around 14.7 million children. The U.N. organization cautioned, however, that the estimated total number of children using vapes is “almost certainly an undercount,” since only 75 percent of the world’s population are covered by national vaping surveys. The WHO said countries had to crack down on the tobacco industry’s efforts to create new addicts through the marketing of vapes toward young people. “E-cigarettes are fuelling a new wave of nicotine addiction,” said Etienne Krug, head of health determinants, promotion and prevention at the WHO. “They are marketed as harm reduction but, in reality, are hooking kids on nicotine earlier and risk undermining decades of progress.” European leaders have taken an increasingly strong position on vapes as of late. Tax Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told POLITICO that vapes were “killing our kids” and pledged to follow through with his plan to extend the Tobacco Taxation Directive to new products. The vaping industry denied his claim, saying there have been no deaths caused directly by legal vapes. Meanwhile, Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi told a health conference in Austria last week he wanted to eventually raise minimum taxes on vapes in line with tobacco.

GASTEIN, Austria — European Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi said the EU will eventually hike taxes on vapes to match “classic tobacco products” as Europe was already seeing the public health impact of vaping. Várhelyi said the European Commission’s proposed tax hikes on cigarettes and vapes, presented in July, were a “strong signal” of EU policy’s direction of travel. The Commission proposed to raise tobacco taxes across the board and set minimum taxes on vapes and nicotine pouches for the first time.  The proposed tax levels vary by product but are higher for cigarettes and tobacco than e-cigarettes. The new tax on cigarettes would be at least 63 percent of the average retail price, while for vapes it will range from 20 to 40 percent.  “We will raise the excess duties on these new products to the exact same level as it is for classic tobacco products and we will need to continue in that direction,” the commissioner said during a panel at the European Health Forum Gastein in Austria. “For whatever reason, in the public [vaping] is not presented as a danger — yet,” Várhelyi said. But he said Europe was already witnessing the public health impact. In the Czech Republic, more than 25 percent of young people vape. “The health impact is already there,” he said, pointing out this number was higher than the average rate of EU adults who smoke. In 2019, 18.4  percent of people in the EU aged 15 and over smoked daily. Várhelyi didn’t give a timeline for when taxes on new products would rise to match cigarettes. “Of course, it’s very important to have confirmation from the lung experts that we’re doing the right thing,” he added. Várhelyi was speaking at a panel on heart health where he heard pitches from experts on how to maximize the impact of the planned cardiovascular health plan, expected by the end of the year.