BATTLING THE COFFIN NAILS.

• Position: Tobacco advertising - Brief Article

The war against tobacco use in the EU has shifted into top gear this month, with several decisive victories being won. MEPs and the Council adopted the Directive on tobacco advertising, and the Court of Justice judged that the Tobacco Products Directive was legal and valid. This last Directive should have been implemented at the end of September, but of course Member States were dragging their heels, waiting for the outcome of the court case, which was brought by two British tobacco companies. Campaigners, notably Jules Maaten, the Dutch Socialist MEP who piloted the Tobacco Products Directive through the European parliament, and David Byrne, the Commissioner for Health and Consumer Affairs, were jubilant at these two victories.

But the jubilation is not likely to last for long. The Directive on Tobacco Advertising may have been adopted, but the odds are that its legal basis will be challenged by Germany, which has a large...