Nine months after the European Commission issued its Green Paper Towards a Europe free from tobacco smoke: policy options at EU level, the European Parliament recently voted overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution which called for strong measures regulating smoking in public places. The resolution recalled that at least 650,000 people die in the EU each year as a consequence of smoking. This figure includes 80,000 passive smokers.
A Eurobarometer survey issued in January 2006 reveals that 70 per cent of the EU population are non-smokers while 86 per cent of EU citizens are in favour of a ban on smoking in offices and other workplaces, 84 per cent in other indoor public places, 61 per cent in bars and pubs and 77 per cent in restaurants.
Over the years, the EU has already introduced various legislative measures to safeguard the health of EU citizens at work, by preventing their exposure to the harmful effects of passive smoking. However, other public spaces have only been addressed by non-binding resolutions and recommendations, as illustrated by the different regimes that currently exist within the EU with respect to bans on smoking in the leisure and hospitality sectors. Rules for these sectors have been left to the discretion of national governments.
The Green Paper published by the Commission at the beginning of this year presented a number of possible policy options in order to promote smoke-free areas across the EU. However, most of the options were based on non-binding measures where “Member States would retain the right to decide whether – and how – to introduce smoke-free measures depending on national circumstances and cultural differences”.
The Commission did not exclude the possibility of introducing binding legislation and strengthening already existing EU legislation in this field. The Green Paper itself recognizes the several economic interests tied to the tobacco industry, such as jobs in this sector as well as the tax revenues generated.
These factors may have led the Commission to adopt a cautious approach in its proposals in this preliminary phase.
However, over the past years, there has been an increased momentum in favour of bans on smoking in public places. The abovementioned survey bears witness to this momentum. The European Parliament, being directly accountable to the European citizens, clearly responded to this appeal in the said resolution which was adopted on 24 October with 561 votes in favour, 63 against and 36 abstentions.
The European Parliament invited member states to impose smoking bans in all enclosed workplaces, including catering establishments, as well as in all enclosed public buildings and transport. MEPs also asked for an EU-wide ban on the sale of tobacco products to people under 18, allowing cigarette machines to be placed only where they are inaccessible to minors, as well as for the removal of tobacco products from self-service displays in retail outlets. An EU-wide minimum level of taxation on tobacco products was also requested by means of the European Parliament’s resolution.
Lastly, the resolution established the ambitious target of reducing smoking among youth by 50 per cent by 2025. However, until more uniform legislation is introduced across the EU, citizens will continue to depend on different rules in different countries. Those Member States which have already introduced smoking bans have already witnessed positive results, such as a reduction in tobacco consumption whilst the long term benefits deriving from reduced exposure to passive smoking should reduce the financial and health costs incurred by authorities and citizens. Needless to say that that the introduction of such legislation would be of little benefit if it is not adequately enforced!
Henri Caruana is a research analyst at Forum Malta fl-Ewropa