Dataset Information

Quantifying the influence of the tobacco industry on EU governance: automated content analysis of the EU Tobacco Products Directive.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

The tobacco industry spends large sums lobbying the European Union (EU) institutions, yet whether such lobbying significantly affects tobacco policy is not well understood. We used novel quantitative text mining techniques to evaluate the impact of industry pressure on the contested EU Tobacco Products Directive revision.

Design

Policy positions of 18 stakeholders including the tobacco industry, health NGOs and tobacco retailers were evaluated using their text submissions to EU consultations and impact assessments. Using Wordscores to calculate word frequencies, we developed a scale ranging from 0-tobacco industry to 1-public health organisations, which was then used to track changes in the policy position of the European Commission's 2010 consultation document, its 2012 final proposal and the European Parliament and Council's approved legislation in March 2014.

Results

Several stakeholders' positions were closer to the tobacco industry than that of health NGOs, including retailers (?=0.35), trade unions (?=0.34) and publishers (?=0.33 and ?=0.40). Over time the European Commission's position shifted towards the tobacco industry from ?=0.52 (95% CI 0.50 to 0.54) to ?=0.40 (95% CI 0.39 to 0.42). This transition reflected an increasing use of words pertaining to business and the economy in the Commission's document. Our findings were robust to alternative methods of scoring policy positions in EU documents.

Conclusions

Using quantitative text mining techniques, we observed that tobacco industry lobbying activity at the EU was associated with significant policy shifts in the EU Tobacco Products Directive legislation towards the tobacco industry's submissions. In the light of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, additional governance strategies are needed to prevent undue influence of the tobacco industry on EU policy making.

SUBMITTER: Costa H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4215371 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Quantifying the influence of the tobacco industry on EU governance: automated content analysis of the EU Tobacco Products Directive.

Costa Hélia H Gilmore Anna B AB Peeters Silvy S McKee Martin M Stuckler David D

Tobacco control 20140813 6

<h4>Objective</h4>The tobacco industry spends large sums lobbying the European Union (EU) institutions, yet whether such lobbying significantly affects tobacco policy is not well understood. We used novel quantitative text mining techniques to evaluate the impact of industry pressure on the contested EU Tobacco Products Directive revision.<h4>Design</h4>Policy positions of 18 stakeholders including the tobacco industry, health NGOs and tobacco retailers were evaluated using their text submission ...[more]

PMID: 25124165

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Project description:BackgroundYoung people's experimentation with e-cigarettes has increased in recent years, although regular use remains limited. EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) regulations introduced packet warnings, advertising restrictions, and regulated nicotine strength from 2016, in part due to concerns regarding use by young people. This paper examines e-cigarette use trajectories before and after TPD.MethodsE-cigarette use data were obtained from School Health Research Network/Health Behaviour in School-aged Children surveys in Wales and Smoking Drinking and Drug Use surveys in England. Data from Wales were analysed using segmented logistic regression, with before and after regression analyses of English data. Semi-structured group interviews included young people aged 14-16 years in Wales, England and Scotland in 2017 and 2018.ResultsIn Wales, ever use of e-cigarettes increased over time, but under a range of assumptions, growth did not appear to continue post-TPD. A small and non-significant change in trend was observed post-implementation (OR=0.96; 95%CI=0.91 to 1.01), which increased in size and significance after adjusting for ever smoking (OR=0.93; 95%CI=0.88 to 0.98). There was little increase in regular e-cigarette use from 2015 to 2017 in Wales. However, ever and regular use increased from 2014 to 2016 in England. Young people in all nations described limited interactions with components of TPD, while describing e-cigarette use as a 'fad', which had begun to run its course.ConclusionsThis study provides preliminary evidence that young people's e-cigarette experimentation may be plateauing in UK nations. The extent to which this arises from regulatory changes, or due to a fad having begun to lose its appeal among young people in the UK countries, remains unclear. These trends contrast to those observed in North America, where newer products whose EU market entry and marketing have been impacted by TPD, have gained traction among young people. Long-term monitoring of e-cigarette use trends and perceptions among young people remain vital.

Project description:BackgroundThe Framework Convention on Tobacco Control makes a number of recommendations aimed at restricting the marketing of tobacco products. Tobacco industry political activity has been identified as an obstacle to Parties' development and implementation of these provisions. This study systematically reviews the existing literature on tobacco industry efforts to influence marketing regulations and develops taxonomies of 1) industry strategies and tactics and 2) industry frames and arguments.MethodsSearches were conducted between April-July 2011, and updated in March 2013. Articles were included if they made reference to tobacco industry efforts to influence marketing regulations; supported claims with verifiable evidence; were written in English; and concerned the period 1990-2013. 48 articles met the review criteria. Narrative synthesis was used to combine the evidence.Results56% of articles focused on activity in North America, Europe or Australasia, the rest focusing on Asia (17%), South America, Africa or transnational activity. Six main political strategies and four main frames were identified. The tobacco industry frequently claims that the proposed policy will have negative unintended consequences, that there are legal barriers to regulation, and that the regulation is unnecessary because, for example, industry does not market to youth or adheres to a voluntary code. The industry primarily conveys these arguments through direct and indirect lobbying, the promotion of voluntary codes and alternative policies, and the formation of alliances with other industrial sectors. The majority of tactics and arguments were used in multiple jurisdictions.ConclusionsTobacco industry political activity is far more diverse than suggested by existing taxonomies of corporate political activity. Tactics and arguments are repeated across jurisdictions, suggesting that the taxonomies of industry tactics and arguments developed in this paper are generalisable to multiple jurisdictions and can be used to predict industry activity.

Dataset Information

Quantifying the influence of the tobacco industry on EU governance: automated content analysis of the EU Tobacco Products Directive.

Objective

Design

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Quantifying the influence of the tobacco industry on EU governance: automated content analysis of the EU Tobacco Products Directive.

Similar Datasets

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