John Dalli to meet European Parliament president Martin Schulz

Former EU commissioner John Dalli has written to MEPs a two-page letter that links smokeless tobacco lobbyists to Swedish snus manufacturer Swedish Match, casting doubt on the Swedes who complained to the European Commission in May that a former political canvasser was soliciting a bribe from them to change tobacco laws.

The letter, reported by euobservor.com, illustrates Dalli's fears that the whole affair - which has cost him his job as European Commissioner - is designed to kill the tobacco law.

"Please insist with the Commission that this directive is launched as planned so that thousands of lives can be saved," he urged MEPs.

Dalli will be meeting European Parliament Martin Schulz tomorrow Tuesday.

Dalli told EUobserver that new "inter-service consultations" - the internal commission talks on the Tobacco Products Directive - are unlikely to get going before February now that the anti-tobacco law he was pushing has been put on ice.

"This [the February talks] will put it out of the timetable for finalisation in this legislature because of the timetable of parliament and if this happens this directive is dead because it has to start all over again in the new legislature," he said.

He warned there is a risk that any new version of his bill could be "diluted." He also said that prior to the scandal "there was [already] an attempt to dissuade me from going ahead with certain measures" in the tobacco law.

"I am not going there to seek any type of redress from Mr Schulz. I'm going to explain my position and to answer any questions ... I can't stand by when people are saying this case is closed. For me, the case has not even opened yet," Dalli told EUobserver.

The Commission today reiterated that Dalli resigned voluntarily in order to clear his name after anti-fraud office OLAF found "circumstantial evidence" that he knew and did not report that a Maltese middleman was asking a tobacco firm, Swedish Match, for money to nobble his EU tobacco-control bill. Dalli says that Barroso has not listed the reasons why he should have resigned in a written request.

Dalli said the commission is lying about what really happened. "I walked into Barroso's office and he told me I had to resign. I spent an hour and a half with him telling him this is not the way to do it and with him saying I must resign or I will dismiss you," Dalli recalled.