European Commission may ban smoking outdoors

The European Commission plans to recommend a ban on smoking on outdoor café terraces, public transport stops and in zoos, and to extend the measures to nicotine-free products. This follows a leaked document published by Euronews.

According to the draft, the Commission will propose to extend existing bans on smoking in public places to cover not only traditional cigarettes, but also new tobacco products such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco, regardless of nicotine content. These measures aim to reduce the exposure of others to harmful aerosol.

A key part of the plan is to ban smoking in a wide range of outdoor and semi-outdoor public places, including restaurant and café terraces, public transport stops, hospitals, parks and educational facilities. While the recommendations will not be binding, they will provide a framework for EU member states as part of a broader effort to reduce smoking-related disease.

The proposals are part of the European Commission's cancer control plan. The plan aims to have "tobacco-free generations" by 2040 and to reduce smoking rates in the EU to 5% of the population.