"THE COMPROMISE IS NOT PERFECT, BUT IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE".

• Position: Cigarette industry - Brief article

What do you think of the compromise just adopted by Parliament?

It's a miracle that we managed to achieve this result in so little time. The strategy of the cigarette industry, particularly Philip Morris, was to delay the issue. But by pushing that strategy to the extreme, they ended up producing the opposite effect. In my opinion, the positive results are: 1. the health warnings at the top of the two main surfaces of the pack; 2. the measures against trafficking; and 3. the prohibition of flavourings. The negative points are: 1. all the exceptions (like menthol); 2. the limited size of warnings; and 3. the compromise on e-cigarettes, since we would have preferred to have them treated like pharmaceutical products in order to ensure more scientific monitoring. In other words, the compromise is not perfect, but it could have been worse.

What do you think of the 'Free vaping initiative', supported by over 30,000 people?

I have no comment other than to say that I would love to know who is financing this campaign. If I had to bet, I would say that it is the...