Last spring, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) invited people to a conference on the “risks and opportunities” of e-cigarettes. In the final discussion, a representative of the vaping industry was able to advocate for their products. He wasn’t the only industry representative at the event. 29 companies and industry associations sent people, including employees from all major tobacco companies in Germany.
Among them was Frank Henkler-Stephani from the Federal Association of the Tobacco Industry, who may have met some former colleagues there. Henkler-Stephani was responsible for the risk assessment of e-cigarettes at the BfR for ten years before switching sides. The BfR is also regularly represented at events organized by the e-cigarette industry.
The German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) considers this lively exchange to be questionable. “The BfR’s attitude towards lobby groups from the tobacco and e-cigarette industries promotes the reputation of these groups who would like to be recognized as stakeholders,” writes DKFZ researcher Laura Graen in a report on the influence of the tobacco industry published on Tuesday. The attitude, it goes on to say, also leads to “unnecessary interactions” between the institution that is important for tobacco control and the industry.
By “unnecessary interactions” we mean contacts that shouldn’t actually exist. According to the global tobacco control agreement, a binding treaty under international law that Germany has long since signed, health policy should be protected from industrial influences. This also means that contacts between the industry and politicians, including their authorities, should be limited to what is absolutely necessary.
But Germany is a long way from that, concludes Laura Graen in her analysis, for which she evaluated data from the Bundestag’s lobby register. The extent of contacts between industry representatives and decision-makers at all levels – “from the ministerial bureaucracy to the Federal President” – is alarming.
At least 90 lobbyists from 30 companies and associations in Germany exclusively represent the interests of the tobacco industry. Your annual budget: more than six million euros. If lobbying agencies that represent other industries in addition to the tobacco sector were also included, the numbers would be significantly higher, according to the analysis. In 2021, industry representatives met with Treasury officials at least ten times to discuss the planned change in tobacco taxation. There have also been repeated contacts at the federal state level.
Big Tobacco also pays money to politicians. For the years 2021 and 2022, the report shows at least 174,000 euros in party donations. They went to the CDU, CSU, SPD and FDP. In addition, at least 261,000 euros are likely to have flowed to the four parties for sponsoring events. Sponsorship of party conventions or business conferences is so widespread that it is impossible for politicians to completely avoid attending such events, the report said.
Philip-Morris sponsored the Federal President’s “German Future Prize”.
Philip Morris sponsored the Axel Springer newspaper economic summit in 2022 and 2023 The world. The participants included representatives of the company as well as Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and a third of his cabinet – including Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) and Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (The Greens).
The industry also finances events related to politics and science through its own foundations. The Philip Morris Foundation, for example, provides money for the Federal President’s “German Future Prize”, worth 250,000 euros, which is awarded to high-ranking scientists. In 2021, the developers of the Covid vaccine were honored by Biontech. The contract with the foundation has now been terminated due to pressure from scientists. The “Federal President’s History Competition” is sponsored by the Körber Foundation. She is the owner of Körber AG, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of cigarette manufacturing machines.
These are just a few examples from the report, which itself is unlikely to provide a complete picture. It is said that the connections with the tobacco industry are largely non-transparent. And: The government is taking almost no protective measures to counteract this lobbying power. The author also sees this lobbying as a reason “why Germany lags far behind other European countries in regulating the tobacco industry.”
Germany is therefore in a rather poor position in international comparison. In the tobacco lobby index published at the same time, which is published by the organization Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control, the Federal Republic is currently in 69th place out of 90 participating countries. The balance sheet has worsened since the previous edition two years ago.
However, this applies to many countries. 43 countries are currently performing worse than before when it comes to tackling tobacco lobbying. Only 29 countries improved their rating by, for example, enforcing greater transparency in the face of corporate influence. Brunei, New Zealand and France received the best ratings.