Smoking ban on restaurant terraces

Smoking has been prohibited in all enclosed and covered places open to the public or which constitute workplaces since the Evin law of 1991. Enclosed terraces are affected by this ban.

The Bertrand decree specifies the places which are subject to the smoking ban: among them, places of "conviviality" i.e. bars, hotels, restaurants, tobacco shops, casinos, gaming clubs and nightclubs.

The places where tobacco is consumed have therefore changed since the decree came into force in 2008. Smokers have moved to new spaces - smoking rooms or terraces. Those responsible for establishments have therefore set up facilities subject to specific standards.

Smoking rooms, which are prohibited for minors, must have air extraction devices and a limited surface area in order to prevent customers from withdrawing into these places. With this in mind, no service provision is possible in these places.

The terraces constitute de facto a smoking area for the customers of the convivial spaces. However, some of these smoky terraces are completely closed while the circular of September 17, 2008 only authorizes smoking if the terrace is physically separated from the interior of the establishment and if the terrace is open on at least one side.

Despite the Bertrand decree, situations of exposure to tobacco in places of collective use are still numerous. Pollution surveys of fine particles carried out in 2008 in 200 establishments show that closed terraces expose customers and employees to pollution levels equivalent to the pollution peaks recorded on the ring road during rush hour.^[1].

©Tobacco Free Generation