EU health commissioner Olivér Várhelyi is facing a call for an ethics investigation after a policy commentator raised questions about his wife’s work for Hungarian MEPs and how it was disclosed.

Writing on The Risk-Monger on 8 September, David Zaruk alleged that the arrangement creates a conflict of interest and urged European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to refer it to the Independent Ethical Committee.

Zaruk identifies Várhelyi’s wife as Imola Várhelyiné Horváth and reports that she works as an accredited parliamentary assistant to 11 Hungarian MEPs belonging to the Patriots for Europe group.

He argues that her position, combined with what he describes as her background in health and pharmaceutical policy, warrants scrutiny given her husband’s responsibility for EU health policy.

The article does not establish that confidential information has been shared or that she has influenced the commissioner’s decisions.

Questions over disclosure

At the centre of Zaruk’s criticism is a change between two declarations of interests.

He reports that Várhelyi’s declaration submitted for his 2024 confirmation hearings recorded no professional activity for his spouse. He contrasts this with a later declaration acknowledging her parliamentary employment.

The declaration currently published by the Commission, dated 18 March 2026, lists his spouse’s professional activity as “Accredited Parliamentary Assistant in the European Parliament”. It does not name her or identify the MEPs she assists.

The difference raises a question over when her employment began and when it was declared. Zaruk says she has been an accredited assistant since at least 2024, but the material presented doesn’t establish the precise starting date needed to assess the earlier declaration.

Zaruk said he had written to the commissioner’s cabinet seeking confirmation of the relationship and had received no reply. His article contains no response from Várhelyi or the woman he identifies as his wife to the conflict-of-interest allegations.

Call for an ethics review

Zaruk argues that the arrangement could give the MEPs access to information about Commission health policy outside official channels, or an opportunity to influence it through the commissioner’s wife.

Those are concerns he advances about potential access and influence, although the article doesn’t provide any documented examples of either taking place.

He calls on von der Leyen to ask the Independent Ethical Committee to examine the situation and report to the Commission and Parliament.

The Commission’s code of conduct requires commissioners to avoid situations that could create, or reasonably be perceived as creating, a conflict of interest. It includes potential benefits to spouses within its definition of personal interests.

Zaruk alleges that the code has been breached. His article presents no formal finding by an EU ethics body that a breach has occurred.

Previous controversy over nicotine

Várhelyi has already drawn criticism over his statements about smoking alternatives.

In a written parliamentary answer reported in January, he said: “Using smoke-free tobacco and nicotine products, as opposed to combustible smoking, is not reducing risk to health.”

That followed his claim in a December 2025 interview that vapes, heated tobacco and nicotine pouches were “one hundred per cent” as harmful as cigarettes.

For vaping, that position conflicts with NHS guidance, which says switching completely from cigarettes reduces exposure to toxins and is less harmful than continuing to smoke. The NHS also stresses that vaping is not risk-free and that children and non-smokers should not take it up.

Zaruk cites the commissioner’s nicotine statements in his criticism of his handling of health policy. He doesn’t provide evidence linking those statements to his wife’s parliamentary work.