Dear Reader,

By accepting to moderate the first social dialogue at EU level initiated by British American Tobacco, I became personally involved in the contradiction which is seen to exist between the tobacco industry and corporate social responsibility. As you know, many simply believe it is impossible for an industry to be responsible if it manufactures a product which can cause serious health risks. For my part, I believe that the tobacco industry can and must address issues regarding human rights, environment and labour practices, but more specifically its adverse impact on health. Therefore I agreed to play a role in British American Tobacco’s social dialogue process and in the development of an objective and tangible EU social report which deals directly with the impact of the tobacco industry on public health.

My position as moderator of the British American Tobacco social dialogue was entirely independent. My role was to facilitate the engagement process by providing an interactive environment for discussion and to make sure that the dialogue and the resulting report were objective and balanced. To be honest, I never had doubts that I would be able to keep my independence, but was not so sure what the company’s attitude might be. Today I can say that British American Tobacco has performed professionally.

The social dialogue was conducted at different levels and in a variety of formats, with stakeholders from a wide range of backgrounds including the European institutions, business and several NGOs. It consisted of a series of policy dialogue sessions coupled with high-level individual, political meetings which provided British American Tobacco with valuable but also some very critical feedback on its activities. The eventual outcome of the process was quite representative with relevant stakeholders making very concrete and detailed comments which underlined the interest and the deep concerns arising from an issue as controversial as tobacco’s social dimension.

I have been encouraged by the attitude of British American Tobacco representatives which was very professional and serious, providing stakeholders with preliminary remarks in the course of the dialogue and replying in a concise manner within this social report. The opinions and comments expressed by British American Tobacco representatives address all the concerns expressed during the dialogue sessions and engage the company positively in a long-term process of sustainable development.

The most important part of this report are commitments on the various issues discussed. Most likely one cannot expect immediate and significant progress on all issues identified by the report, especially on specific topics such as public place smoking. But I will stress that the company must make gradual and consistent progress giving priority to the most sensitive issues and keeping stakeholders informed. For their part, stakeholders should understand that fulfillment of these commitments, if it is to be serious, is a difficult process.

If it is British American Tobacco’s ambition to achieve a sustainable platform for dialogue at EU level, by creating more confidence and enlarging the number of stakeholders involved, my personal assessment is that this process has made a very clear and objective start … but there is still a very long way to go. In my opinion British American Tobacco showed professionalism and some real human concern but for the future of the process everything will depend on the company’s capacity to implement its commitments.

Finally, I would like to thank each and every stakeholder for participation with special thanks to the European Commission. I also appreciate British American Tobacco’s positive and serious involvement to date.

To conclude, I cannot but invite those that have not participated in the dialogue, to do so in the future.

Pavel Telička

Pavel Telička - former State Secretary for European Affairs, head of Czech team for EU accession negotiation, ambassador and head of Czech mission to the EU and member of the European Commission responsible for health and consumer protection portfolio. Currently BXL Consulting Company's partner and director of its Brussels office.