[Intl-tobacco] Berlin stance threatens tobacco controls - Financial Times

[Robert Weissman]

EUROPE: Berlin stance threatens tobacco controls - Financial Times
By Tobias Buck in Brussels
Tuesday, May 6, 2003

Germany has angered its European allies by throwing in doubt European
Union support for the World Health Organisation's Convention for
Tobacco Control, due to be signed this month in Geneva.

The convention, the first global health treaty negotiated by the WHO,
will include binding rules on tobacco taxation, smuggling,
advertising and promotion, product regulation, and smoking prevention
and treatment.

Berlin wants the EU to issue an additional declaration supporting the
right of member states to opt out of the convention's ban on tobacco
advertising out of constitutional concerns - a position that has
drawn fire from other EU member states, the European Commission and
anti-tobacco groups.

They fear that Germany's tough stance will prevent the European Union
from presenting a united front. There could also be legal problems in
applying the treaty in the EU, should Germany decide not to support
the document.

Germany's intransigence would represent a snub to David Byrne, the EU
health commissioner, who has long fought for a more restrictive
regime on tobacco advertising and controls, both in the EU and
internationally. "It would be an affront to Byrne," one Commission
official said.

In a last-ditch attempt to find a compromise, Greece - holder of the
rotating EU presidency - has put the issue on the agenda of a meeting
of EU health ministers in Brussels today.

Supporters of the convention hope that the meeting will demonstrate
the extent of Germany's isolation, and will pile up sufficient
pressure for the government of Gerhard Schr=F6der to fall in line.

The document, which has been four years in the making, requires all
signatories to ban tobacco advertising. However, after intense
lobbying from the US and Germany, the ban will only have to be put in
place "in accordance with [a country's] constitution or
constitutional principles" - in effect providing for an opt-out
clause in the case of Germany, which argues that a blanket ban on
tobacco advertisements would violate its constitution. These changes
had led most officials to believe that Germany would now
unconditionally back the convention.

Within the EU too, Germany is among the most ardent opponents of a
ban on tobacco advertising, though a joint attempt with Britain to
block an EU law to that effect was thwarted last year, when the
remaining 13 member states closed ranks.

"There seems to be a particularly strong link between the German
government and the tobacco industry," said Sophie Kazan of the
Brussels-based European Network for Smoking Prevention.