European Commission recommends expansion of smoke-free and vaping-free spaces in Member States

The European Commission is recommending that Member States ban the use of cigarettes, vaping products and other tobacco products, including heated tobacco, in outdoor areas, according to new guidelines published on 17 September. The guidelines are part of the EU's Beating Cancer Plan, which aims to create the first "tobacco-free generation", in which fewer than 5% of the population will be using tobacco by 2040, compared to 25% today.[1].

The EU executive proposed the new, non-binding text to update the current Council recommendations adopted in 2009 for a smoke-free environment. These cannot fully achieve their "protection objective" due to a lack of coverage of "outdoor spaces" and "emerging products", the document reads.

Active smoking remains the leading preventable premature cause of death worldwide and in Europe. In addition, exposure to tobacco smoke is responsible for approximately 1.2 million deaths worldwide and 24,000 in the European Union.[2].

Expanding smoke-free spaces to include new tobacco and nicotine products

The Commission calls on Member States to extend the scope of smoke-free spaces to major outdoor spaces, including children's recreational areas such as public playgrounds, amusement parks, zoos and swimming pools, as well as the areas around public buildings and transport stops and stations. It also calls for these spaces to be extended to emerging products such as heated tobacco products and e-cigarettes, which are increasingly used by young people. The World Health Organization has recently highlighted the negative effects of exposure to secondary emissions from these products, including respiratory and cardiovascular problems.[3]-[4]The Commission also specifies: "The evidence for the use of emerging products - heated tobacco and vaping products - as smoking cessation aids is inconclusive."

The Commission states that the expansion of public spaces where the use of tobacco and nicotine products is prohibited helps to denormalise the consumption of these products, especially among young people. This policy thus contributes to achieving a tobacco-free generation. The Commission's new recommendation also links to the guidelines of Article 8 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, to which the EU is a Party. This Article of the Convention specifically concerns protection against exposure to tobacco smoke.

National regulations on smoke-free spaces vary across member countries

The European coalition SmokeFree Partnership welcomes this initiative and specifies that "Although not binding, the recommendation provides crucial support to EU countries with weaker legislation and low compliance rates [with the smoking ban], such as Germany, Croatia, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Slovakia." Indeed, the Eurobarometer 2023 revealed significant disparities between EU countries in terms of smoking ban policies in public spaces. People in Greece, Bulgaria and Cyprus are much more likely to be exposed to second-hand and third-hand smoke than those in Hungary, Finland and Latvia.

Eurobarometer data[5] also show that adolescents and young adults in the EU remain exposed to tobacco. Nearly 80% of respondents aged 15-24 reported having been exposed to tobacco, regardless of the product, or to vaping on outdoor terraces. In addition, nearly 40% of respondents saw people smoking the last time they visited outdoor spaces intended for children or adolescents (such as playgrounds, schoolyards and playgrounds). This proportion even reached 49% for e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products.

The current recommendation encourages EU countries to share best practices and strengthen international cooperation to maximise the impact of the measures taken. In France, the legislation and enforcement of smoke-free spaces is rated as "good" by Smokefree Partnership[6]. Improvements are possible with regard to the possible existence of smoking rooms and outdoor spaces that are not affected by the bans, apart from children's play areas in parks. Current French legislation provides for a ban on smoking in all indoor workplaces, including bars/restaurants, as well as on public transport and all indoor collective use areas. In 2016, the legislator also extended the ban to private vehicles in the presence of a minor. This ban is massively supported by the population and is generally respected, except for regularly reported circumventions concerning terraces often transformed into verandas. More and more local initiatives taken by mayors to extend smoke-free areas: around schools, beaches, parks, etc. have been partly taken into account in the new national plan to combat smoking 2023-2027 (PNLT) and should soon be generalized in the country.

©Tobacco Free Generation

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[1] Press release, Commission proposes to extend coverage of smoke-free environments, European Commission, published 17 September 2024, accessed 18 September 2024

[2] Carreras G, Lachi A, Cortini B, Gallus S, López MJ, López-Nicolás Á, Soriano JB, Fernandez E, Tigova O, Gorini G; TackSHS Project Investigators. Burden of disease from second-hand tobacco smoke exposure at home among adults from European Union countries in 2017: an analysis using a review of recent meta-analyses. Prev Med. 2021 Apr;145:106412. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106412. Epub 2020 Dec 31. PMID: 33388324.

[3] Heated tobacco products: summary of research and evidence of health impacts. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2023. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

[4] TECHNICAL NOTE ON Call to action on electronic cigarettes, WHO, published December 14, 2023, accessed September 18, 2024

[5] European Union, Attitudes of Europeans towards tobacco and related products, June 2024

[6] Generation without tobacco, The delay of European countries in establishing tobacco-free spaces, published on December 19, 2022, consulted on September 18, 2024