Brussels, 17/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - In their adoption of the own-initiative report by Karl-Heinz Florenz (EPP-ED), the MEPs of the Parliamentary committee on the environment and health have favourably welcomed the Green Paper of the Commission entitled “Towards a Europe Free from Tobacco Smoke: Policy Options at EU Level”, but take the view that this document is only a “starting point”. They are calling on the Commission to classify tobacco smoke in the environment as a class I carcinogenic agent, and on the member states to bring in a total ban on smoking in enclosed workplaces within two years, to include the catering sector and all enclosed public places and transport. The Commission is called upon to draft a report on the costs of smoking, and the consequences of exposure to tobacco smoke, on the national healthcare systems and the European economy.
The committee on the environment of the EP takes the view that the 2001 directive on tobacco products should be updated to include rules on tobacco additives, particularly those which are carcinogenic or addictive. The report also lays emphasis on the need to include the obligatory use of visual warning labels on tobacco products. Furthermore, the MEPs call on the Commission to look into other measures, such as a ban on sales of tobacco products to young people of less than 18 years old, the installation of tobacco vending machines only in places to which young people do not have access, the withdrawal of tobacco products from the self-service shelves of retail trade establishments, and the ban on long-distance sales (via the Internet, for example) of tobacco products to young people. In the same spirit, the EP committee calls on the member states to commit to “halving the consumption of tobacco among young people by 2025”. As regards their own workplace, the MEPs are calling on the Bureau of the Parliament to lead by example, introducing a “smoking ban in all the premises of the European Parliament”. This report is to be examined in plenary at the October session in Strasbourg. (oj)