London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Jan 30, 2026

The revenge of Big Tobacco

The revenge of Big Tobacco

Snus is back in the news, which is a reminder of a not-so-great moment in Commission history.

In the media (including here at POLITICO Towers), we love to use the word “Big” to describe a major industry — Big Tech, Big Pharma (or, even more terrifying, Big Farmer) and, of course, Big Tobacco.

It can’t be easy for Big Tobacco these days (to minimize the deadly impact of tobacco, just picture a sad executive forced to wear a giant cigarette costume, wandering around a shopping mall trying to sell his wares and being kicked by teenagers). Anyway, as you’ll have read in Brussels Playbook, the Swedish daily Aftonbladet wrote about a leaked European Commission document that suggested those meddling Brussels Eurocrats planned to double taxes on snus, the popular-in-Scandinavia tobacco product. For those unfamiliar with snus, imagine taking some of the “juice” that has collected at the bottom of your kitchen bin and smearing it on your gums and teeth.

Many Swedes and others were furious at this potential infringement on their traditional way of life, until the Commission made clear that it had no intention of making such a move.

You can’t mention snus and the EU without reference to John Dalli, the former Maltese member of the Commission who was obliged to resign from his role overseeing health and consumer policy in the second Commission led by José Manuel Barroso (old-timers may remember Barroso II for such luminaries as charisma-vacuum Catherine Ashton, lobbying enthusiast Neelie Kroes, and Berlusconi’s bag-carrier Antonio Tajani).

Full disclosure: This publication’s predecessor published a magazine previewing Barroso II in which this author wrote that Dalli would be unlikely to “rock the boat.” He didn’t rock the boat, of course, but rather attempted to set it on fire.

Dalli did so much damage that he got the media to come up with a -gate suffix for him (Dalligate), which is no mean feat, after one of his aides allegedly tried to obtain a €60 million bribe from a Swedish tobacco company to reverse an EU ban on snus.

Dalli quit his EU post in October 2012, and claimed that Barroso forced him out after presenting him with a report from OLAF, the bloc’s anti-fraud office (and also the snowman in the film “Frozen”). Dalli also claimed bribery charges leveled against him were part of a “campaign” to smear him. “This is another fraud,” he told the Times of Malta last year.

Why Big Snus hasn’t snapped up Dalli for a senior lobbying position remains a mystery.

CAPTION COMPETITION

“Coming soon to Netflix: ‘Macron’ in which a tough city cop moves into a quiet French village.”

Can you do better? Email pdallison@politico.eu or on Twitter @pdallisonesque

Last time we gave you this photo:



Thanks for all the entries. Here’s the best from our postbag — there’s no prize except for the gift of laughter, which I think we can all agree is far more valuable than cash or booze.

“And this is the prime minister. You’ll like him. He’s also new in the job and also relies on vast inherited wealth,” by Tom Morgan.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
AstraZeneca Announces £11bn China Investment After Scaling Back UK Expansion Plans
Starmer and Xi Forge Warming UK-China Ties in Beijing Amid Strategic Reset
Former South Korean First Lady Kim Keon Hee Sentenced to 20 Months for Bribery
Tesla Ends Model S and X Production and Sends $2 Billion to xAI as 2025 Revenue Declines
China Executes 11 Members of the Ming Clan in Cross-Border Scam Case Linked to Myanmar’s Lawkai
Trump Administration Officials Held Talks With Group Advocating Alberta’s Independence
Starmer Signals UK Push for a More ‘Sophisticated’ Relationship With China in Talks With Xi
Shopping Chatbots Move From Advice to Checkout as Walmart Pushes Faster Than Amazon
Starmer Seeks Economic Gains From China Visit While Navigating US Diplomatic Sensitivities
Starmer Says China Visit Will Deliver Economic Benefits as He Prepares to Meet Xi Jinping
UK Prime Minister Starmer Arrives in China to Bolster Trade and Warn Firms of Strategic Opportunities
The AI Hiring Doom Loop — Algorithmic Recruiting Filters Out Top Talent and Rewards Average or Fake Candidates
Amazon to Cut 16,000 Corporate Jobs After Earlier 14,000 Reduction, Citing Streamlining and AI Investment
Federal Reserve Holds Interest Rate at 3.75% as Powell Faces DOJ Criminal Investigation During 2026 Decision
Putin’s Four-Year Ukraine Invasion Cost: Russia’s Mass Casualty Attrition and the Donbas Security-Guarantee Tradeoff
Wall Street Bets on Strong US Growth and Currency Moves as Dollar Slips After Trump Comments
UK Prime Minister Traveled to China Using Temporary Phones and Laptops to Limit Espionage Risks
Google’s $68 Million Voice Assistant Settlement Exposes Incentives That Reward Over-Collection
Kim Kardashian Admits Faking Paparazzi Visit to Britney Spears for Fame in Early 2000s
UPS to Cut 30,000 More Jobs by 2026 Amid Shift to High-Margin Deliveries
France Plans to Replace Teams and Zoom Across Government With Homegrown Visio by 2027
Trump Removes Minneapolis Deportation Operation Commander After Fatal Shooting of Protester
Iran’s Elite Wealth Abroad and Sanctions Leakage: How Offshore Luxury Sustains Regime Resilience
U.S. Central Command Announces Regional Air Exercise as Iran Unveils Drone Carrier Footage
Four Arrested in Andhra Pradesh Over Alleged HIV-Contaminated Injection Attack on Doctor
Hot Drinks, Hidden Particles: How Disposable Cups Quietly Increase Microplastic Exposure
UK Banks Pledge £11 Billion Lending Package to Help Firms Expand Overseas
Suella Braverman Defects to Reform UK, Accusing Conservatives of Betrayal on Core Policies
Melania Trump Documentary Sees Limited Box Office Traction in UK Cinemas
Meta and EssilorLuxottica Ray-Ban Smart Glasses and the Non-Consensual Public Recording Economy
WhatsApp Develops New Meta AI Features to Enhance User Control
Germany Considers Gold Reserves Amidst Rising Tensions with the U.S.
Michael Schumacher Shows Significant Improvement in Health Status
Greenland’s NATO Stress Test: Coercion, Credibility, and the New Arctic Bargaining Game
Diego Garcia and the Chagos Dispute: When Decolonization Collides With Alliance Power
Trump Claims “Total” U.S. Access to Greenland as NATO Weighs Arctic Basing Rights and Deterrence
Air France and KLM Suspend Multiple Middle East Routes as Regional Tensions Disrupt Aviation
U.S. winter storm triggers 13,000-plus flight cancellations and 160,000 power outages
Poland delays euro adoption as Domański cites $1tn economy and zloty advantage
White House: Trump warns Canada of 100% tariff if Carney finalizes China trade deal
PLA opens CMC probe of Zhang Youxia, Liu Zhenli over Xi authority and discipline violations
ICE and DHS immigration raids in Minneapolis: the use-of-force accountability crisis in mass deportation enforcement
UK’s Starmer and Trump Agree on Urgent Need to Bolster Arctic Security
Starmer Breaks Diplomatic Restraint With Firm Rebuke of Trump, Seizing Chance to Advocate for Europe
UK Finance Minister Reeves to Join Starmer on China Visit to Bolster Trade and Economic Ties
Prince Harry Says Sacrifices of NATO Forces in Afghanistan Deserve ‘Respect’ After Trump Remarks
Barron Trump Emerges as Key Remote Witness in UK Assault and Rape Trial
Nigel Farage Attended Davos 2026 Using HP Trust Delegate Pass Linked to Sasan Ghandehari
Gold Jumps More Than 8% in a Week as the Dollar Slides Amid Greenland Tariff Dispute
BlackRock Executive Rick Rieder Emerges as Leading Contender to Succeed Jerome Powell as Fed Chair
×