EU lawmakers are increasingly giving in to the influence of the tobacco lobby.
According to Transparency International's Integrity Watch database, meetings between tobacco industry representatives and MEPs have increased by 57%, rising from an average of 14.7 meetings per month to 23 by June 2026. The database, which compiles self-declared meetings published by the European Parliament, shows that tobacco companies and affiliated organisations have consistently lobbied lawmakers on issues ranging from vaping and heated tobacco to taxation and tobacco control.
The tobacco industry has become one of the most powerful and well-funded corporate lobbying forces in Brussels as the EU advances its ambition of creating a "tobacco-free generation" by 2040 under the Beating Cancer Plan.
The sector is estimated to spend between €8 million and €10 million annually on direct lobbying of EU institutions and employs more than 100 registered lobbyists dedicated to influencing policy, a figure that excludes public relations firms, law firms, consultancies, and industry-backed think tanks working on its behalf.
Advocacy groups argue that this huge access creates a stark imbalance between commercial interests and public health voices. During one key legislative period, for example, public health NGOs secured only 12 meetings with influential MEPs, while Philip Morris International alone held 121 meetings.
