EU Ombudsman: Oettinger’s gig at tobacco-linked firm needs close scrutiny

The European Ombudsman has urged the Commission to keep a watchful eye on former member Günther Oettinger’s new role at a firm with close links to the tobacco industry.

In November, the EU executive approved a request from Oettinger, whose term as budget commissioner ended in 2019, to join the global advisory board of consultancy Kekst CNC. The group reported between €200,000 and €299,999 in revenue from tobacco giant Philip Morris in 2019, according to the EU Transparency Register. 

According to information provided by Oettinger to the Commission, the board “helps to broaden and enhance Kekst CNC’s global reputation and visibility among senior opinion-leaders and decision-makers” and supports “business development activities.” 

In a letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen dated February 11, Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly reminded her that as a party to the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, “the EU has committed to protect public health policies from the tobacco industry.”

She also noted that the Commission’s plans to soon revise several pieces of legislation related to tobacco “are likely to be a heavy focus” of the industry. 

The Commission is revisiting the Tobacco Products Directive this year, and a looming question is whether the bloc will use the opportunity to tighten rules on vaping. The freshly released Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, meanwhile, is calling for steep reductions in tobacco use.

O’Reilly stressed that the approval of Oettinger’s Kekst role had been subject to the condition that he would not help the firm or its clients lobby the Commission either directly or indirectly. The Berlaymont, she said, must therefore keep a close eye on the matter.

“Given that this consultancy’s largest client listed under the EU Transparency Register is Philip Morris International, you can understand the public should be reassured that the Commission will take all necessary steps to ensure that it meets its obligations under Framework Convention by monitoring the compliance of the conditions it has placed on the former Commissioner,” O’Reilly wrote.

Oettinger, who has received the Commission’s stamp of approval for 13 different post-Berlaymont roles to date, told POLITICO that his work will have “nothing to do with tobacco.”

“I’m not a smoker,” the former German politician said, adding that he has not had contact with Philip Morris and had “no ambition” to have any contact with the company in the future.

“I know my restrictions, know my obligations perfectly,” he said.

Thomas Empt, managing director of Kekst CNC, also said the EU rules will be respected.

“We do not want to comment on the Ombudsman’s letter but we would like to emphasize that it is of highest interest for our company to strictly follow the rules of the Code of Conduct for former members of the European Commission,” he said in an email.

A spokesperson for the Commission said that the approval of jobs of former commissioners “is not a policy decision, but a decision on possible restrictions on an individual’s right to work justified by the protection of interests of the Commission as an institution,” adding that the Commission authorized Oettinger’s role “with a number of conditions to preserve the public interest.”