The European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, strongly regrets that the European Commission has chosen not to make its dealings with the tobacco industry more transparent in line with UN guidelines.

The Commission was responding to the Ombudsman’s recommendation to extend the transparency policy of DG Health to all DGs through proactive online publication of all meetings of all Commission staff with tobacco lobbyists.

Such a move would acknowledge the reality that the tobacco industry actively lobbies across multiple DGs in order to advance its commercial interests.

The Commission, in its opinion on the Ombudsman's recommendation, still says it meets its obligations under the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

However the WHO guidelines clearly state that 'all branches of government' come within the scope of the FCTC