"Tobacco regime - Extended Impact Assessment"
Commission staff working document
In 1998, when the Council agreed substantial modifications to the existing framework of support for Community tobacco production, it instructed the Commission to submit a report on the operation of the regime accompanied. The question of the tobacco regime’s future was also touched upon during the Göteborg European Council in May 2001, in the context of the EU’s strategy for sustainable development.
The Commission’s response was to strengthen its commitment to finding a sustainable policy approach for the tobacco regime, based on an Extended Impact Assessment of options on the economic, social and environmental aspects of the sector. The Commission decided to entrust this analysis to an Interservice Steering Group (ISG), inviting representatives from twelve directorates-general and services to take part.
In the framework of this Extended impact assessment, the "Standing Tobacco Group" of the Consultative Committee on Specialised Crops as well as a Consultative Forum comprising representatives from the world of health, consumer groups, downstream industries, environmental and development associations as well as local authority representatives from the main EU producing countries, were invited to present their positions and comments, which would inform the choice to be made by the political authorities.
Published in September 2003.
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Press release (23/09/2003)
