Tobacco Lobby Urges More Dialogue With EU Officials on Tax Bill

The tobacco industry’s insistence on having a greater say in an EU proposal to double tax rates on cigarettes is facing pushback from the European Commission, which says keeping the industry at arm’s length is justified.

The commission follows the UN Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which applies strict rules on protecting public officials from the tobacco lobby. That means keeping meetings at a minimum and publishing records that describe the contents of the meetings that take place.

“European institutions in the past have set limitations for European politicians to interact with the sector,” EU ...