14 DAY TRIAL // Experts at the University of Bath, working together with colleagues from the University of Edinburgh, have recently established that the current, economy-oriented approach of European Union policies was heavily influenced by tobacco companies such as British American Tobacco. The end-result was a set of instruments for assessing a policy's impact that lay more emphasis on corporate gains than on public health, a new research published in the latest issue of the open-access scientific journal PLoS Medicine reveals.
When the EU proposes the implementation of a new set of policies, all the documents need to pass what is called am “impact assessment” (IA) analysis. The goal of this investigation is to determine what the potential economic, social and environmental consequences of the future laws might be. The researchers managed to prove in their journal entry that the IA tools used by the European Union were heavily influenced by companies such as BAT, alongside other chemical, oil and food corporations. As a direct result, many policy sets that have passed have a direct negative impact on public health, but they also benefit corporate interests and promote their gains.
This type of actions contributed directly to the development of the business-oriented IA system that is currently in effect in the EU. The research team says that, in order to ensure that this type of policies is no longer adopted, the general public needs to take a more active interest in the matter. It adds that more transparency on the part of EU authorities is also needed, and that people should take the time to understand the IA mechanisms in greater detail. Additionally, the group reveals, people across the Union should also be aware of the massive policy-influencing powers that major corporations such as BAT have.
These conclusions were drawn after the team, led by expert Dr. Katherine Smith, analyzed more than 700 internal BAT documents, as well as conducted interviews with a number of lobbyists and policymakers in the EU. A large number of officials were found to be unaware of the massive influence that BAT exerted on the decision process. This was most often the case because the corporation supported a policy network that was influencing a policy lobby group. Other major companies were also involved in the scheme. Additionally, BAT also used think tanks and consultancy companies (third parties) to indirectly influence the EU policy orientation.