BRUSSELS — The European Commission suspects that a massive tranche of pro-industry comments on the EU’s proposed tobacco tax hike was “probably” a coordinated attempt to distort public feedback.

The Commission received thousands of anonymous submissions promoting pro-tobacco industry arguments in the final hours of the public feedback period on its proposal on the Tobacco Tax Directive. There were also fake submissions purporting to be from public health experts opposing the plan.

“We have been looking at the submissions in the public consultation and we saw some elements that indicated, indeed, some of the submissions were probably submitted in a coordinated manner and not necessarily representing individual views,” said David Boublil from the Commission’s tax department, in response to a question from POLITICO.

Boublil didn’t say who was behind the coordinated submissions but said the lobbying from the tobacco industry on the file was “gigantic.” He was speaking at an event on tobacco taxation hosted by the European Respiratory Society in Brussels.

Public consultations on controversial products like tobacco have attracted suspicious activity in the past. A 2024 U.K. consultation on tobacco and vaping policies received over 90,000 fraudulent responses that the government said was consistent with the use of bots.

In Europe, this year is likely to see increased industry lobbying as two pieces of tobacco legislation are slated for review.

The Commission’s plan to hike tobacco taxes is likely to be a contentious political issue: It wants to raise the EU-wide minimum levy on tobacco from €90 per 1,000 cigarettes to €215, but some countries think that’s too aggressive. Cyprus, which holds the presidency of the Council of the EU until the end of June, has suggested paring that back to €200 and giving countries an extra two years to implement the directive.

The Commission also plans to overhaul its rules on the marketing and sale of nicotine products to cover e-cigarettes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches in 2026. A draft European Parliament report said the Commission should extend its tobacco control laws to all non-medicinal nicotine products, including a crackdown on marketing, flavors and packaging.