That is exactly my hope. Hope they are as clever as they are duplicitous.
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i can never think about the eu snus ban without shaking my head in confusion. maybe this explains itComment
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MALTATODAY ( newspaper )
Matthew Vella
The Nationalist deputy mayor of Sliema, Silvio Zammit, tendered his resignation Tuesday evening at 8:30pm, after it was established that he was in email and telephonic communication with Swedish snuff producers Swedish Match in 2011, in an attempt to broker a meeting with European Commissioner John Dalli.
MaltaToday has seen an email confirming the communication that took place between Zammit and Swedish Match.
In his resignation letter to PN secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier, Zammit said he was resigning due to personal reasons.
Dalli this evening resigned as health and consumer affairs commissioner after a probe by the EU's anti-fraud office OLAF found circumstantial evidence that he was aware of an attempt at corruption surrounding new legislation on the Swedish tobacco product known as snus.
The allegations, which he has denied, were reported to the Commission in 2011 and findings by OLAF were verbally communicated to him on Tuesday evening.
MaltaToday is informed that Zammit was in contact with Swedish Match over the possibility of influencing John Dalli ahead of a major revision of the Tobacco Products Directive that would have further regulated the access of tobacco to minors and other non-tobacco products like Swedish Match's snus.
Swedish Match told MaltaToday that had they received an "indecent proposal that was a real and credible offer" by a Maltese businessman who claimed he could influence Dalli on his anti-tobacco legislation.
According to the email between Zammit and Swedish Match, the Nationalist councillor was offered a fee to broker a meeting between the company and John Dalli.
Snus is a type of smokeless tobacco sold in loose form or in paper sachets that users stuff under their upper lip - snus sales are banned in the EU, except in Sweden, which insisted on an exemption when it joined the EU.
Dalli, who as health and consumer affairs Commissioner was pursuing anti-tobacco legislation, said in a statement this evening that the anti-fraud office "did not find any conclusive evidence" of his direct involvement in a scheme to profit from his office but felt "that he was aware of these events."
On its part, Swedish Match spokesperson Patrik Hildingsson told MaltaToday that the company received the offer by the businessman - whose identity they did not divulge - back in 2011.
"We believed it was real and credible enough for us to warrant a report to the European Commission. We felt it was highly indecent, and a few weeks later we informed the EC of the circumstances of this offer.
"We're not after anybody's head. But we felt it was credible enough for us to inform the Commission. We never heard of anything since then and only now have we been informed of the OLAF investigation."
Hildingsson said the businessman's offer was related to the regulation of snus sales outside Sweden. "We have had no historical relationship with the person and this was the first advance of the sort we had."
The OLAF report will go to the Attorney General of Malta, who will decide on what steps to take on the investigation.
Earlier this year, Dalli launched an own-initiative to regulate tobacco products and reduce cigarettes' appeal to young people in the form of a revision of the Tobacco Products Directive. The revision included the regulation of access to tobacco in a more stringent manner to limit the exposure of minors to tobacco products, and how to address new types of nicotine products on the market, such as electronic cigarettes.
This ostensibly included the regulation of snus, the Swedish tobacco snuff produced by Swedish Match.
As claimed on its website, Swedish Match wanted the European Commission to live up to promises of "smart regulation" during the revision on the Tobacco Products Directive.
Swedish Match was of the opinion that the EU ban on snus lacked a justified reason and was both discriminatory and disproportionate, and a violation of the free trade principle that denied adults "access to a traditional and viable non-combustible tobacco alternative that is scientifically well documented."
In an offical press statement released later in the evening, Swedish Match said it took this incident very seriously. "Swedish Match expects that the European Commission in the future will ensure a transparent and legally fair process for the proposal of a new Tobacco Products Directive which is expected during the autumn. Swedish Match expects that proven scientific facts regarding snus, including the well documented significantly lower health risks compared to cigarettes which are allowed in the EU, are considered in a continued fair legal process for the proposal of a new Tobacco Products Directive."Comment
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EU-kommissionär: Skandal utan dess like
”Man blir nästan mörkrädd” EU-parlamentsledamoten Christofer Fjellner (M), som i flera år arbetat för att få snuset godkänt i EU säger att affären är "oerhört allvarlig" för hela EU-kommissionen.
PUBLICERAD 16 OKTOBER 2012 - 19:36
Fjellner: Snuset skyddar svenskar från cancer
– Man blir nästan mörkrädd, säger EU-parlamentsledamoten Christofer Fjellner (M), som i flera år arbetat för att få snuset godkänt i EU.
-Jag är oerhört besviken när det visar sig att alla goda argument och all fakta inte spelar någon roll, utan att det visar sig att det handlar om pengar. Att han har varit medveten, som Olaf-utredningen säger, om att människor å hans vägnar kräver pengar för att påverka politiska processer, och att han väljer att avgå när detta blir känt, är ju en skandal utan dess like.
Fjellner "förutsätter" nu att Dalli-affären ska ge snuset en "ärlig chans" i EU "och verkligen prövas på vetenskapliga grunder". Samtidigt kallar han affären "oerhört allvarlig" för hela EU-kommissionen.
– Jag har under mina snart nio år i EU-parlamentet aldrig varit med om något liknande. Det handlar om mer än bara snuset - det handlar om trovärdigheten för europeisk lagstiftning, säger Christofer Fjellner till TT.
TTComment
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^^^^^^^That is the money statement in the whole article.Originally posted by GN Tobacco Sweden AB
SM knows all eyes are now on the process......and that the process has been marred by scandal
SM just defined for all those watching eyes what a proper process will look like and the basis on which a credible decision will be made.
That puts incredible pressure on an already blemished EU commission to play clean..... anything that cannot be documented.....any reason that cannot be substantiated............will be suspected of corruption and foul play………….and possibly opened to the same investigation that just brought down Dalli
In other words……….”PAY OFF” can no long be the basis for the EU tobacco policy…………..The world is watching and SM just told them what to look for
Somebody f**ked up big...........to the tune of billions of dollars in lost cigarette and pharmaceutical sales.............and Dalli is only one part of the breakdownWhen it's my time to go, I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my uncle did....... Not screaming in terror like his passengersComment
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Apparently John dalli has had his fair share of controversies in Brussels before, so this will be another nail in the coffin for him. Hopefully he's finished.Comment
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I would also like to point you to this sentence: "[...]the OLAF report showed clearly that the European Commission's decision making process and the position of the services concerned has not been affected at all by the matters under investigation."
Oh really? The commission member responsible for the tobacco directive tried to get money from a tobacco manufacturer who refused to pay up and you really think that this fact wouldn't have affected the position of the commission on the issue of tobacco? I'll say it again, the commissioner for health asked Swedish Match for money to influence the directive! The fact that SM refused to pay most certainly led to the directive being unfavorable to them.Comment
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I don't for a single minute think that Dalli was the only politician in the EU taking bungs from tobacco/pharma companies. I'd put good money on the same thing happening in the UK, given how corrupt our governments have been proven to be over the years.
As has been said, hopefully now that Dalli has been exposed, the Swedish Snus manufacturers can team up and try to get the ridiculous law overturned.
There is no logical reason why cigarettes remain legal and snus remains banned, and Big Tobacco/Big Pharma has a lot of income to protect, and seemingly by any means necessary.Comment
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Exclusive: John Dalli on OLAF, resignation, and Tobacco Directive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft8o6RWMKUEComment
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Ok - this guy talks about smoking regulation which is fair enough but he is still packaging that danger with snus. No separation with this man on that subject whatsoever.Originally posted by Ansel
He has one e-mail about ESTOC asking how much it would cost for a meeting. That's his only issue.
He wants to limit the nicotine content of e-cigs......so that'll be about 4mg or something stupid like NRT. Why?
But best of all...........
"The directive will now not see the light of day"Comment
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"John Dalli A Corrupt EU Commissioner" from the webpage:
http://ec-eu-john-dalli.blogspot.dk/Comment
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A comparison, which is why I could never understand the EU's stance. Up until a couple years ago, energy drinks as strong as Redbull, were banned in Norway (member of European Economic Area, EEA). The EEA threatened sanctions because this limited free trade within member countries.
Caffeine is addictive and sugar isn't healthy in higher amounts, which is why it was banned in Norway, same reason the EU susposedly bans snus.
The EU isn't just to follow up on majority decision regarding what's wanted by countries and what not. Its a European Economic Area, its original purpose was to allow free trade inbetween member countries.
So the policy never made sense, even less sense to those aware of Norway's redbull ban.Comment
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John Dalli A Corrupt EU Commissioner: John Dalli A Corrupt EU Commissioner
Blogs about EU Commissioner John Dalli and his corrupt practices.
John Dalli EU Commissioner - An Arrogant Bully http://jd-4th-one.blogspot.co.uk/
John Dalli a Corrupt EU Commissioner http://ec-eu-john-dalli.blogspot.co.uk/
“The love of exercising power has been found to be so universal, that no class of men who have
possessed authority have been able to avoid abusing it”.
“The suppression of truth is the enemy of knowledge”Comment
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Redbull is banned in Norway?
Jeeeeezus. I don't allow my children caffeine .... I guess the EU thinks the people of Norway get too hyperactive on caffeine.
How insulting.Comment
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People should now be aware that "public health" is not about health but about which industry bribes the most.
Unfortunately, most news-stories that I've read so far, even in renowned newspapers, have a tenor that the typical biased/brainwashed reader will think that Dalli has probably become the victim of a "Big Tobacco"-intrigue. Not a single reporter realises the magnitude of the scandal. Snus is only mentioned as some kind of Swedish chewing tobacco that is banned in the EU.
No further informations are given, nothing is investigated, not a single word about the harmlessness of snus, the usability as a cigarette alternative and the fact, that the ban itself must have been the result of bribery from the outset, dating back to the late 80's. Dalli's predecessors must already have taken money from the pharma industry or the cigarette industry or both. There is no other logical explanation for this moronic ban.
"Public health" and "tobacco control" are just organised in a way that opens every door to corruption. And it's also a waste of public money. Politicians should realise, that it's overdue to rethink the whole concept.
Yup, I wonder who paid for the Norwegian Redbull-ban ... and there is a myriad of other products, which are banned for no explainable reason.
Cheers!Comment
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