A smokefree Europe? MEPs call for restrictions on tobacco
The EU Environment Committee have proposed in a new report a wide range of restrictions on smoking in public places and rules which will make it harder for underage people to buy cigarettes.
The report, drafted by Karl-Heinz Florenz in response to a Commission consultation paper, says that 650,000 people die from smoking each year, including 80,000 from passive smoking. While 70% of Europeans are non-smokers, 86% are in favour of a ban on smoking at work, 84% in other public places, 61% in bars and pubs and 77% in restaurants, the committee noted.
MEPs therefore welcome the Commission's Green Paper "Towards a Europe free from tobacco smoke: policy options at EU level" but regard it only as a starting point. They urge the Commission to designate secondhand smoke a class 1 carcinogen and call on Member States to introduce an unrestricted smoking ban in all enclosed workplaces, including catering establishments, all enclosed public buildings and transport within two years.
MEPs therefore welcome the Commission's Green Paper "Towards a Europe free from tobacco smoke: policy options at EU level" but regard it only as a starting point. They urge the Commission to designate secondhand smoke a class 1 carcinogen and call on Member States to introduce an unrestricted smoking ban in all enclosed workplaces, including catering establishments, all enclosed public buildings and transport within two years.
The Commission is asked to produce a report on the cost incurred to national health systems and the EU economy as a result of smoking and tobacco smoke.
The report asks the Commission to examine measures such as introducing a European Union wide ban on the sale of tobacco products to people under 18 years of age, allowing cigarette machines to be placed only where they are inaccessible to young people, removing tobacco products from self-service displays in retail outlets and banning distance sales of tobacco products to young people such as over the internet. The committee also calls on Member States to commit themselves "to reduce smoking among youth by at least 50% by 2025." |