Tobacco lobby quadruples meetings with MEPs as EU rewrites the rules
The tobacco and nicotine industry has dramatically stepped up its influence campaign in Brussels. Since summer 2024, Members of the European Parliament have declared more than 400 meetings with sector lobbyists — nearly four times as many as during the entire 2019–2024 parliamentary term, according to a POLITICO analysis.
The surge coincides with the EU's overhaul of major tobacco and nicotine legislation, including the Tobacco Taxation Directive, advertising restrictions and the flagship "tobacco-free generation" goal for 2040 under the Beating Cancer Plan.
Research by the NGOs STOP and Contre-Feu shows Philip Morris International alone held more than 121 meetings with MEPs between 2023 and September 2025, while the Smoke Free Partnership recorded barely a dozen. An estimated fifty industry-linked organisations operate in Brussels, with combined lobbying budgets of roughly €14 million per year.
Critics, including the WHO Regional Office for Europe, question whether the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is being respected. The industry denies any wrongdoing, pointing to its economic contribution and its "deep transformation towards a smoke-free future."
