EU countries are poised to push for tougher anti-smoking rules on Tuesday, backing a ban on smoking and cigarettes in many outdoor spaces, including playgrounds and cafe terraces.
A recommendation calling on member states to crack down on second-hand smoke – and vapor – will be on the table as health ministers from the 27 EU countries meet in Brussels.
It is likely to be approved, according to diplomatic sources, despite political divisions on the issue – exposed last week when the European Parliament voted against a similar text.
The recommendation would be non-binding because healthcare is the responsibility of individual member states.
But it provides an indication of the policies governments may pursue in the future as they seek to reduce smoking-related deaths and illnesses.
Following an initial proposal by the European Commission in September, the draft document calls on EU countries to extend the restrictions in place on cigarettes to “emerging products” such as tobacco heating devices and electronic cigarettes that are increasingly popular among young people.
Governments should “ensure effective protection” against aerosols they emit in indoor spaces such as offices and public buildings.
Such protection should also be granted in some external areas, it said.
This means in practice that smoking should be banned in places including swimming pools, beaches, zoos, rooftop bars and restaurant terraces.
“Violation of individual freedom”
The push comes as the EU aims to reduce its smoking population from around 25 per cent now to less than five per cent of the total by 2040, as part of its “Plan to Fight Cancer”.
Tobacco use is estimated to kill more than eight million people worldwide each year, including about 1.3 million non-smokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke, according to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics.
Emissions from e-cigarettes also commonly contain nicotine and other toxic substances that are harmful, including to passive smokers, according to the WHO.
But treating smoking and vaping in the same way is controversial.
In a joint declaration seen by AFP, Italy and Romania said calls for a ban on outdoor vaping had no scientific basis and should not have been included in the recommendation.
The two countries should still support the text, according to a diplomatic source.
The European Parliament last week voted against a resolution on the same topic, after right-wing MPs passed amendments distinguishing between traditional tobacco products and electronic devices.
This angered the left, which supported the original text but rejected its watered-down version.
“We see the ban on smoking outdoors as a violation of personal freedom,” Pietro Fiocchi, a representative of the far-right ECR group, said in a statement.
The parliamentary resolution, which would have only a symbolic value, was rejected with 378 votes against and only 152 for.
