In its dealings with the tobacco industry the European Commission should follow the example of the Netherlands, the European lobby watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory and the European Public Health Alliance argue. Dutch transparency in this area was enforced in 2015 by Youth Smoking Prevention.

The court in The Hague ruled against the Youth Smoking Prevention Foundation today in the case against the Dutch State over illegal contacts of the government with the tobacco industry and its lobby. Nevertheless the court case has led to huge progress in the way the Dutch government relates to the tobacco industry. 

Does Article 5.3 of the FCTC convention from the World Health Organization relating to policies to control tobacco consumption take effect immediately? And does the Dutch State act unlawfully by not complying with the provisions of this Article? That is the key issue in the case taken by the Youth Smoking Prevention Foundation against the State, which was heard today in court in The Hague. The court will deliver its verdict on 9 November.

Dutch chest physician Wanda de Kanter (Netherlands Cander Institute, Amsterdam), president of the Youth Smoking Prevention Foundation, was invited to do a poster presentation at the 16th World Conference on Lung Cancer, taking place September 6-9, 2015 in Denver, Colorado.

The Youth Smoking Prevention Foundation is taking the Kingdom of the Netherlands to court to end the structural and excessive influence exerted by the tobacco lobby on government anti-smoking policies.