Jens Rohde

This page was last edited on 04 February 2020, at 13:38.

Jens Rohde is a Danish politician, who has been a Member of European Parliament (MEP) since 2009.

Background

Rohde is a member of the Alliance of the Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE).
During the revision of the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), Rohde was a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), one of five key committees tasked to provide a formal opinion on the revised TPD proposal.

Relationship with the Tobacco Industry

Regular Meetings with Philip Morris

Leaked internal Philip Morris International (PMI) documents have revealed that the tobacco company had regular contact with Rohde during the TPD revision (see Picture 1), and that the MEP facilitated access between PMI and Danish MEPs Anne Jensen and Morten Lokkegaard (although the extent of their contact with PMI is unknown).¹²

Picture 1: Snapshot from Philip Morris International leaked document which was leaked in September 2013 (highlights are ours)

Former Member of Staff Working for Philip Morris

PMI’s regular contact with Rohde was facilitated by his former political assistant (2002-2005) Anne Katrine Mevlig (see Picture 2), who had joined PMI Denmark in 2011 as Corporate Affairs Manager.³ Mevlig was one of 161 PMI staff/consultants working on weakening the provisions in the revised TPD proposal.⁴⁵

Picture 2: Snapshot from Philip Morris International internal document, leaked in September 2013

Opposed Tobacco Control Measures in EU

Tabled Amendments To Weaken TPD

Rohde tried to push several amendments in Parliament’s ITRE Committee to dilute the revised TPD proposal, including removing the prohibition of menthol as a cigarette ingredient and the requirement for 75% health warnings. Rohde proposed that:⁶

* menthol be excluded from being a ‘characterising flavour’ (adopted by ITRE)

* ‘characterising flavours’ should only be banned when it can be measured to increase the toxicity and addictiveness at stage of consumption (partly adopted by ITRE)

* health warnings should cover only 40% of the pack and be placed at the bottom of the pack (ITRE proposed 50%).

TobaccoTactics Resources

Relevant Link

Rohde’s European Parliament Biography (all EU languagues)

TCRG Research

The revision of the 2014 European tobacco products directive: an analysis of the tobacco industry’s attempts to ‘break the health silo’, S. Peeters, H. Costa, D. Stuckler, M. McKee, A.B. Gilmore, 2016, Tobacco Control; 25:108-117
Quantifying the influence of tobacco industry on EU governance: automated content analysis of the EU Tobacco Products Directive, H. Costa, A.B. Gilmore, S. Peeters, M. McKee, D. Stuckler, 2014, Tobacco Control; 23:473-478

References

↑Philip Morris International, Friday sheet 15 June 2012, from internal Philip Morris International documents leaked in September 2013
↑Philip Morris International, meps influenced 131001062055, from internal Philip Morris International documents leaked in September 2013
↑Linkedin profile Anne Katrine Melvig undated, accessed December 2013
↑J. Doward, Tobacco giant Philip Morris ‘spent millions in bed to delay EU legislation’, The Guardian, 7 September 2013, accessed December 2013
↑Philip Morris International, Copy of new Transparency Register. Lists of Consultants and their expenses, from internal Philip Morris International documents leaked in September 2013
↑R. Goebbels, ITRE Committee Amendments 21-280 Draft Opinion on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco and related products, 28 May 2013