EU recommends banning tobacco and e-cigarettes in outdoor spaces such as bar terraces

The Council of the European Union adopted on Tuesday the European Commission's recommendation to expand smoke-free zones to include "key spaces" such as bar and restaurant terraces and children's playgrounds. The proposal was approved at a meeting of the 27 health ministers in Brussels, and urges member states to "protect" citizens - and in particular young people and children - from the harmful effects of tobacco and similar products. It therefore recommends expanding smoke-free areas to all those spaces where children are more likely to gather, such as public parks, amusement parks and swimming pools, areas connected to health and education centres, public buildings, service establishments and stations.

“The recommendation will help prevent diseases and reduce the likelihood of exposure to second-hand smoke and aerosols, in particular among children and young people,” said Péter Takács, State Secretary for Health of the Hungarian government, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU.

The adopted proposal updates the recommendation transmitted to the member states in 2009, taking into account the evolution of the tobacco market and the emergence of new products in the sector. “The adopted recommendation extends the provisions of the 2009 recommendation to products that emit aerosols,” the Council of the EU said in a statement.

“To provide effective protection, we encourage member states to further restrict the use of these products in public spaces, public transport and the workplace,” it added.

Although the EU does not have direct powers to regulate the matter, the European Commission announced when it made public the proposal for a recommendation that it would allocate 96 million euros in aid to member states to promote the measure.

Once the recommendation is adopted, the EC will have to report to the EU Council on the progress made in its implementation within five years from this Tuesday.

The European Parliament overturned the recommendation

Although the EU Council has implemented the recommendation to ban tobacco and electronic cigarettes in spaces such as bar and restaurant terraces, last week the European Parliament unexpectedly overturned a resolution that supported the EC proposal.

The text received 378 votes against, 152 in favour and 26 abstentions, and fell because the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and the Greens voted against the proposal after the European People’s Party (EPP) and the far-right Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) introduced amendments to the previously agreed text to soften the recommendations.

The far-right groups in the European Parliament (ECR, Patriotes and ESN) also voted against, as did most of the liberals in Renew. The EPP voted overwhelmingly in favour, as did the Left.

“The European Parliament has failed in its attempt to protect children and young people, as a coalition of the EPP and far-right groups has blocked critical recommendations to extend public bans on the harms of e-cigarettes. As a result, the S&D has been forced to vote against a softened resolution to preserve the integrity of anti-smoking policies,” the Social Democrats said after the vote.

Sources in the group called the resolution “soft” after the amendments introduced by the ECR and argued that they could not support a text “that said nothing.” In turn, sources from the Greens also argued that the vote against the text responded to the introduction of two amendments by the far-right ECR that would have lowered the “ambition” of the text.

The EC recommendation

Last September, the European Commission called for a ban on smoking tobacco and using electronic cigarettes in outdoor spaces such as bar and restaurant terraces to “protect” citizens - and in particular young people and children - from the harmful effects of these.

The proposal recommended expanding smoke-free areas to all those spaces where there is a "high probability" of children being concentrated, such as public parks, amusement parks and swimming pools, areas connected to health and education centers, public buildings, service establishments and stations.

Although the EC admitted that it does not have direct powers to regulate in the matter, it transferred the recommendation to the states with an announcement of aid of 96 million euros to promote the measure.

Based on the latest reports published by the World Health Organization (WHO), the EC pointed out that the use of both tobacco and electronic cigarettes can lead to the development of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases