In pavement cafés

EU Parliament opposes outdoor smoking ban

The EU Commission is encouraging countries to restrict outdoor smoking.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com, Krone KREATIV)

The EU Commission's recommendation to ban smoking in pub gardens has already made waves. Now the EU Parliament has discussed the proposal and has rejected the idea with a clear majority.

As reported, the hotly debated smoking ban in pubs was also on the EU Parliament's agenda. On Thursday, the EU Parliament then dealt with a resolution that included the smoking ban in pubs. However, the majority of MEPs are against the plans, with an absolute majority clearly not achieved. 378 voted against, 152 in favor. Both the largest group, the European People's Party, as well as the right-wing groups and larger parts of the Liberals and Social Democrats were against. The resolution has thus failed, a defeat for the EU Commission before Parliament. MEPs from Austria are also very opposed.

"Centralist ban policy"
The representatives of the FPÖ, ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS had already announced in advance that they were against the plans. ÖVP representative Lukas Mandl said: "The idea of an anti-freedom and centralist ban policy was rejected by a majority of the European Parliament". FPÖ MEP Gerhard Hauser criticized the "rampant ban policy". Green MEPs Lena Schilling and Thomas Waitz also voted against the text of the resolution, which was not clear beforehand.

Green minister will probably vote in favor of the recommendation
However, Green Minister Johannes Rauch is likely to vote in favor when the Council votes soon. This is because the health ministers will discuss and vote on the recommendation at the beginning of next week. Whether a majority will be found is considered likely, but not yet certain. Neither the parliamentary resolution nor the Commission's recommendation have an immediate binding effect, but past experience shows that recommendations are usually followed by measures. 

However, as the parties in the Austrian National Council (smoking bans are the responsibility of the EU member states) are also against outdoor bans, the project has de facto failed.

EU wants a "tobacco-free generation" by 2040
The EU Commission wants to create a "tobacco-free society" by 2040 with a more restrictive policy and reduce the number of smokers to below five percent. There is still a long way to go, as representatives of the EU Commission itself recently admitted.