Brussels, 25/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - Protection from second hand smoke has improved considerably in the EU, according to a report published by the Commission on 22 February. The Commission highlighted the positive health effects of smoke-free legislation, which are immediate and include a reduction in the incidence of heart attacks and improvements in respiratory health. Tonio Borg, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy, stated that “member states have made steady progress... Citizen's exposure to smoking, however, still varies widely across the EU and there is a long way to go to make 'Smoke Free Europe' a reality”.
28% of Europeans were exposed to second hand smoke in bars in 2012 - down from 46% in 2009. In 2009, the Council introduced the Recommendation on Smoke-free Environments, which called on governments to adopt and implement laws to fully protect their citizens from exposure to tobacco smoke in enclosed public places, workplaces and public transport. This followed on directly from the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the 2007 guidelines which called on all of its 176 signatories ensure better protection from exposure to tobacco smoke.
Since then, some member states have adopted ambitious anti-smoking legislation but others are lagging behind and do not have any comprehensive legislation or are not fully applying it. According to the report: 1) all member states report that they have adopted measures to protect citizens against exposure to tobacco smoke (about half of the member states have adopted or strengthened their smoke-free legislation since 2009); 2) the extent and scope varies widely from one country to the next); 3) complex legislation (i.e. legislation with exemptions) is found to be particularly difficult to enforce; 4) Belgium, Spain and Poland are examples of countries where the adoption of comprehensive legislation has led to very significant drops in exposure rates within a short period of time.
The report underlines that, contrary to many widely held ideas, the ban on smoking has not had a negative impact on the revenue of bars and restaurants: the economic impact has been limited, neutral, and even positive, over time. The majority of Europeans are also in favour of the measures taken to tackle passive smoking, according to a survey published in 2009. (IL/transl.fl)