Brussels Proposes Ban on Smoking in Terraces and Playgrounds

As part of the fight against cancer, the European Commission wants smoking banned in busy outdoor areas, such as playgrounds and outdoor areas of service establishments like transport stations.

The European Commission has recommended that Member States ban smoking in various outdoor spaces, including terraces. The recommendation includes electronic cigarettes and the initiative was presented this Tuesday.

In a note made public, Brussels recalls that every year in the European Union (EU), 700,000 people lose their lives due to tobacco consumption, including tens of thousands due to passive smoking, and reveals that it has carried out a review of a recommendation on anti-smoking policies.

The proposal to revise the Council Recommendation on creating smoke-free spaces, explains the European Commission, "is a direct attempt to help better protect people from the effects of passive smoking and aerosols" and marks "another step forward in the EU's global efforts to denormalise the consumption of tobacco and emerging products, combat nicotine addiction and improve preventive health".

The Commission will provide support, including through a direct grant of €16 million from the EU4Health programme and €80 million from the Horizon programme, to strengthen tobacco and nicotine control and addiction prevention.

The review therefore calls on EU countries to extend "smoking-free policies to key outdoor areas, including children's play areas such as public playgrounds, amusement parks and swimming pools, as well as public buildings and transport stops and stations".

It also recommends "extending smoke-free policies to emerging products such as heated tobacco products and e-cigarettes, which increasingly target very young users".

Member States are urged to implement measures, including limiting exposure to aerosols, which aim to contribute to creating a smoke-free generation by 2040, with less than 5% of the population smoking.

Tobacco is the leading risk factor for cancer, with more than a quarter of cancer deaths attributed to smoking in the EU, Iceland and Norway.

Deaths and other health indicators (such as heart attacks in the general population and improved respiratory health) have improved thanks to smoke-free environments, Brussels argues.

Health policy is a matter for the Member States.

The Council Recommendation on smoke-free environments was adopted in 2009 and at the time called on EU countries to implement laws “that fully protect their citizens from exposure to tobacco smoke in enclosed public places, workplaces and public transport”, to “reinforce anti-tobacco legislation with supporting measures such as encouraging efforts to quit smoking and displaying pictorial warnings on tobacco packaging”, and to strengthen cooperation at EU level “by establishing a network of national tobacco control focal points”. 

The current review also encourages EU countries “to exchange best practices and strengthen international cooperation to maximize the impact of measures taken across the EU”.