"Smoke in Your Eyes: The Struggle over Tobacco Control in the European Union"

[From the Introduction]. In this paper, we argue that questions related to the Commission’s legitimacy arise when it takes action in areas which (a) require deep scientific and technical knowledge, (b) are emotionally and morally charged, (c) are a bit removed from the single market initiative. Our particular example is EU tobacco control and the lengthy effort to gain approval for a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising. The long delay occurred as national approaches to public health diverged, which then provided opportunities for private cigarette companies to block passage of the advertising ban in the Council of Ministers