EU health chief resigns in corruption scandal
October 16, 2012 by Raf Casert in Health
In this Jan. 24, 2011 file photo, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy John Dalli addresses the media during an EU agriculture and fisheries council, at the European Council building in Brussels. EU Health Commissioner John Dalli on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2012 resigned over corruption allegations involving tobacco legislation but denies any wrongdoing. Tuesday's resignation came after the EU's anti-fraud office found that he was aware of an attempt at corruption in pushing new legislation on the EU export ban on the tobacco product snus. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe. File)
(AP)—The European Union's health commissioner resigned Tuesday over corruption allegations involving tobacco laws but has denied any wrongdoing and has vowed to clear his name.
John Dalli, a former Maltese businessman, resigned after the EU's anti-fraud office found that he was aware of an attempt at corruption surrounding new legislation on the Swedish tobacco product known as snus.
Snus is a type of smokeless tobacco sold in loose form or in paper sachets that users stuff under their upper lip. Snus sales are banned in the EU, except in Sweden, which insisted on an exemption when it joined the EU.
The EU Commission said in a statement that Dalli had resigned immediately. It said the anti-fraud office "did not find any conclusive evidence" of Dalli's direct involvement in a scheme to profit from his office but felt "that he was aware of these events."
The Commission said Dalli "categorically rejects these findings" but decided to resign to better defend the reputation of himself and the EU executive.
In this May 27, 2010 file photo, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy John Dalli addresses the media on the 'World No Tobacco Day', at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels. EU Health Commissioner John Dalli on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2012 resigned over corruption allegations involving tobacco legislation but denies any wrongdoing. Tuesday's resignation came after the EU's anti-fraud office found that he was aware of an attempt at corruption in pushing new legislation on the EU export ban on the tobacco product snus. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe, File)
The EU's anti-fraud office sent a report to the Commission after it investigated a complaint by Swedish Match, a tobacco producer. The Commission said that a Maltese businessman had tried to use his alleged contacts with Dalli to get financial benefit from Swedish Match in return for pressing Dalli to influence future tobacco laws on snus."Swedish Match takes this incident very seriously," the company said in a statement. "The incident was promptly reported to the European Commission, and the report from the Anti-Fraud Office has confirmed that the notification was warranted."
OLAF claims that Dalli knew about the attempt at fraud. Its report now goes to the Attorney General of Malta.
A former Maltese finance and foreign minister, Dalli told Maltese TV from Brussels that he "will fight the allegations being made" and that he had resigned to be able to defend his name.
In a statement to Maltese parliament Tuesday, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said Malta will nominate a new commissioner "within reasonable time".
Twelve years ago, the whole EU Commission resigned after an investigative panel alleged cronyism and financial irregularities in their ranks.
"Despite the efforts made in recent years to clean up, selling influence and personal connections may still be a feature of EU lobbying," said Jana Mittermaier, head of Transparency International's EU office. "If that is the case, EU institutions need to take anti-corruption measures much more seriously."
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
-
Smokeless tobacco sold illegally online, UK researchers find
Jan 25, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Europe mulls ban on baby bottles with Bisphenol-A
Nov 24, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Swedish tobacco tied to premature death
Apr 20, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Europe bans baby bottles with Bisphenol-A
Nov 25, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
EU to tighten medical controls after breast implant scandal
Sep 26, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
Classical and Quantum Mechanics via Lie algebras
Apr 15, 2011
- More from Physics Forums - Independent Research
More news stories
Adult day services for dementia patients provide stress relief to family caregivers
Family caregivers of older adults with dementia are less stressed and their moods are improved on days when dementia patients receive adult day services (ADS), according to Penn State researchers.
Health
3 minutes ago |
not rated yet |
0
Schools should provide opportunities for 60 minutes of daily physical activity to all students
Given the implications for the overall health, development, and academic success of children, schools should play a primary role in ensuring that all students have opportunities to engage in at least 60 minutes per day of ...
Health
22 minutes ago |
not rated yet |
0
Survey reveals the success of personal budgets in social care
Over 70 per cent of people who hold a personal budget for social care said it led to greater independence and support according to the latest survey.
Health
3 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Scientists develop smartphone 'assistance agent' for older people
A new smartphone application, developed by scientists at the University of Ulster, which could help older people engage fully in an increasingly self-serve society, may be ready for use by the end of the ...
Health
3 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Can you put a price on health?
As health services strive to improve quality and reduce costs, researchers study the benefits – and the pitfalls – of 'pay for performance' in hospitals.
Health
3 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
|
Motion quotient: IQ predicted by ability to filter motion (w/ video)
A brief visual task can predict IQ, according to a new study. This surprisingly simple exercise measures the brain's unconscious ability to filter out visual movement. The study shows that individuals whose ...
Researchers suggest boosting body's natural flu killers
A known difficulty in fighting influenza (flu) is the ability of the flu viruses to mutate and thus evade various medications that were previously found to be effective. Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have ...
Regenerating spinal cord fibers may be treatment for stroke-related disabilities
A study by researchers at Henry Ford Hospital found "substantial evidence" that a regenerative process involving damaged nerve fibers in the spinal cord could hold the key to better functional recovery by most stroke victims.
The secret lives, and deaths, of neurons
As the human body fine-tunes its neurological wiring, nerve cells often must fix a faulty connection by amputating an axon—the "business end" of the neuron that sends electrical impulses to tissues or other ...
Protein preps cells to survive stress of cancer growth and chemotherapy
Scientists have uncovered a survival mechanism that occurs in breast cells that have just turned premalignant-cells on the cusp between normalcy and cancers-which may lead to new methods of stopping tumors.
Defective cellular waste removal explains why Gaucher patients often develop Parkinson's disease
Gaucher disease causes debilitating and sometimes fatal neurodegeneration in early childhood. Recent studies have uncovered a link between the mutations responsible for Gaucher disease and an increased risk ...
