Brussels, 02 November:The European Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2021 analyzes how 16 countries in the WHO European Region and the institutions of the European Union are affected by tobacco industry, and how far they have progressed in the implementation of Article 5.3 and its Guidelines that were unanimously adopted.

Learning from decades of tobacco industry influence on policymaking, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control requires all Parties to safeguard public health policy against interference from tobacco companies or their representatives. The WHP FCTC guidelines in this respect establish a series of recommendations on how best to ensure the integrity of the policy process. This report is based on reports on how the 16 countries meet these recommendations and it shows significant variations within the European region.

Key take aways:

1. The WHO EURO Region still has the highest prevalence of tobacco use in the world, so it is not surprising that the tobacco industry tries to protect its market and profits by undermining tobacco control policies
2. Despite progress towards the de-normalization of tobacco use through advertising restrictions in many European countries, we also see a trend towards a corporate re-normalization of tobacco companies through CSR actions and the narrative of industry change.
3. The most striking aspect is that many countries still have no safeguards/ measures in place to prevent or expose tobacco industry interference, to which they remain vulnerable
4. There are improvements to be made even in countries with lower interference scores, showing that when policies are in place, policy makers and civil society must be relentless in their efforts towards transparency.
5. The tobacco industry has been pushing novel products through misleading or out of context information to create confusion and distract from policy measures proven to reduce tobacco use.

Download the full report below. Follow the Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index for the global and country reports.

The report has been prepared with the support and contributions of Laura Graen, and has been endorsed by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), European Network for Smoking and Tobacco Prevention (ENSP), European Public Heallth Alliance (EPHA), Association of European Cancer Leagues (ECL).