Clear the smoke in Brussels - demand lobbying transparency

Act now and demand that European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso introduce stronger transparency and ethics rules around lobbying, including an improved code of conduct for Commissioners.

Corporate Europe Observatory and other members of the ALTER-EU alliance are urging European citizens to demand the full facts about what happened in the lobbying scandal that led to the resignation of Commissioner Dalli. Why was the Commissioner forced to resign and what was the role of the tobacco lobby?

The tobacco industry claimed they’d been asked for tens of millions of euros by a lobbyist linked to health commissioner, John Dalli, in exchange for influencing EU tobacco policy. But with new tobacco legislation in the pipeline, there are fears that Dalli may have been caught in a tobacco industry set-up designed to delay changes the industry don't want.

The Commission must end its secrecy and release the full facts about “Dalli-gate”. The scandal shows that the current rules around lobbying are too weak. It is too easy for unregistered lobbyists to meet with top officials and influence EU decision making.