WRITTEN QUESTION E-1650/02 by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission. Snus and cigarettes.
Date: 2002-06-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Sweden, health policy, health risk, market approval, smoking, tobacco, toxicology

5.12.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 301 E/203

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(5 August 2002)

There have been various media reports that the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat)
used false figures in connection with its cooperation with the Luxembourg company, Eurogramme.

1.
In 1999, in relation to an invitation to tender (not involving the Prodcom project) to which it had
replied, Eurogramme Limited (Succursale Luxembourg) S.à.r.l was asked to submit its balance sheets for
1997 and 1998, together with the corresponding tax certificates. Pending this information, the award of
the contract was suspended. Following this request, the company provided financial reports filed with the
relevant authorities, along with certificates relating to social security, VAT and the payment of income and
company tax.

the additional

On the basis of
information requested and the corrected documents supplied by
Eurogramme, Eurostat considered that the firm had not deliberately intended to commit fraud or make
false declarations and that it was thus not ‘guilty of serious misrepresentation’ under Article 29 of the
Directive on public service contracts. Consequently, Eurostat decided that it was not legally entitled to
debar Eurogramme from invitations to tender.

A different stance could have made the Commission liable to action on the ground of discrimination in the
treatment of tenderers. At the time, external data bases were not consulted, which in any case is still not
required by legislation on public contracts.

2.
By way of a supplement to the answer given in paragraph 1, Eurostat points out that at the time of
the events it had neither the means nor the habit of conducting systematic checks on the financial status of
every company that answered an invitation to tender. Since then, and in the light of the conclusions of the
internal audit report, Eurostat has introduced the necessary measures and now carries out a stricter check
on the financial reports submitted by companies in connection with invitations to tender.

The document which the honourable Member mentions became available in December 2000 and

3.
refers solely to the Prodcom project and the related contracts for 1998 and 1999.

This document was followed up internally at Eurostat (see also paragraph 2). In the invitations to tender
for 1999 and subsequent years, the information collected on the form was in line with the requirements of
the Directive on public contracts (see also paragraph 1). In the light of the above, and in view of the facts
as a whole, it was not felt that cooperation with Eurogramme should be suspended.

In the light of these explanations, it was felt that the matter came under administrative management

4.
and the Member of the Commission was not specifically informed at the time.

As for the first query in part 4 of his question, the honourable Member is referred to the answer given in
paragraphs 1 and 3 above.

(2002/C 301 E/214)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1650/02

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(10 June 2002)

Subject: Snus and cigarettes

The EU has a ban on most forms of oral tobacco including, outside of Sweden, the ‘snus’ product
1.
sold in that country. Would the Commission please state the relative health risk of using snus compared to
the risk of smoking cigarettes?

2. What is the evidence that Swedish smokers have successfully switched to snus, and what would be
the likely health impact if the rest of the EU were able to replicate Swedish tobacco consumption patterns?

C 301 E/204

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

5.12.2002

Are there any plans to lift the ban on snus in the rest of the EU and to replace that ban with a

3.
regulatory environment designed to reduce tobacco’s health toll? If not, why not?

Are there ways that medicinal nicotine products (such as gum and patches) could be used more

4.
effectively as a way to replace cigarettes in the way that snus appears to have done in Sweden?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(19 July 2002)

The health risks of tobacco products are twofold. Firstly, they are addictive and therefore, after long-term
and life-long exposure, lead to serious health risks and damages. From the addiction point of view, tobacco
products, including ‘snus’, are similar. The main question is if ‘snus’ is a dangerous product, to which the
answer is yes. There is substantial and growing evidence that ‘snus’ has serious health risks and should
therefore not be allowed into the Community market as a new product. Here Sweden is an exception.

‘Snus’ serves to recruit new tobacco product users,

Situating ‘snus’ as a replacement for cigarettes does not adequately highlight the health issues surrounding
this new product.
in particular young ones. The
evidence in Sweden and in Finland shows that there is a significant number of very young ‘snus’ users,
becoming addicted to nicotine, running increased health risks and, encountering an increased risk of
becoming smokers. Therefore,
‘snus’ cannot be considered as a form of replacement
therapy for cigarettes but more importantly as a gateway to nicotine addiction. For this reason lifting the
ban on the sale of ‘snus’ in the rest of the Community would not reduce the damage related to the use of
tobacco nor help to promote the health of the European citizens, but would rather serve a contrary
purpose of increasing health damage of tobacco products.

in this context,

Regarding nicotine replacement therapy, as a part of tobacco control programmes to help people to quit
smoking, there are encouraging examples of effective practices leading not only to quitting smoking but
also curing nicotine addiction. The Commission,
in its Communication on the present and proposed
Community role in combating tobacco consumption (1), refers to the question of reducing nicotine
dependency identifying several policy options and providing some examples of best practice (such as the
availability of smoking cessation medications at minimal or no cost to smokers and toll free numbers to
inform and help consumers on the dangers of smoking).

(1) COM(96) 609 final.

(2002/C 301 E/215)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1652/02

by Ioannis Marínos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(11 June 2002)

Subject: Earthquake forecast

The publication in the Greek press on 23 May 2002 of a report by the Greek professor of seismology
Papazachos concerning the probability of a major earthquake in four regions of Greece between the
present time and the autumn of 2004 caused an uproar in Greece. The eminent Greek professor pointed in
his report to the possibility of a major seismic tremor occurring in the short term in the region between
Crete and the Peloponnese, in the Dodecanese, the eastern Aegean and in the region where the borders of
Greece, Albania and FYROM meet.

In his reply to my question E-0799/01 (1) on 21 June 2001, Commissioner Philippe Busquin stated that the
earthquake prediction programme, Prenlab, had been funded by the Commission, as had SM-Site