Tobacco control in the EU-15: the role of member states and the European Union

Various explanations have been advanced for the adoption of increasingly restrictive tobacco control policies in Western democracies, usually based on an examination of individual instruments.

Some of the more popular explanations are socioeconomic modernization, interest group politics, political institutions, government ideology and vertical diffusion from the European Union (EU). This paper uses statistical models to test explanations of tobacco control policy across 15 EU member states adopting instruments of Comprehensive Tobacco Control Policy (CPTC) over two decades. Socioeconomic modernization, economic interest groups and domestic political factors all play a role in policy. Although there is declining influence of pro-tobacco domestic constituencies, adoption of CPTC is still inhibited by corporatist practices in member states. Vertical policy diffusion through the EU has aided domestic sources of policy adoption, making tobacco control policy one of multi-level governance and enhancing its comprehensiveness.