Controversial recommendation

Rauch wants to extend smoking ban in Austria

Health Minister Johannes Rauch accuses the ÖVP of blockade.

(Bild: APA/HANS KLAUS TECHT)

The health ministers of the EU member states spoke out in favor of a "smoke-free environment" on Tuesday. Johannes Rauch (Greens) had already announced in advance that he wanted to implement the controversial recommendation - and let off a lot of steam in the process.

"It is purely a recommendation", explained Rauch before the announcement in Brussels. In the run-up to a meeting of EU health ministers in Brussels, Rauch said that false news had been spread in some media - without providing any evidence for his accusations. On Platform X, the Green politician used the less than ministrable word "bullshit".

Although the EU recommendations on "smoke-free environments" are not binding for the EU member states, they had caused a stir in Austria in the run-up. The voluntary nature had not been made clear enough to the minister. Now, however, he has let it slip that he very much wants to implement the stricter regulations.

Rauch wants to extend smoking ban
Rauch told press representatives in Brussels that Austria had already implemented many of the planned measures. He also spoke out clearly in favor of a smoking ban in children's playgrounds in Austria. "This has actually been agreed, it is already in the ministry, but it is failing due to resistance from the ÖVP", said the Green politician. At the same time, ÖVP provincial councillors are calling for such a ban, according to Rauch. Smoking next to children is "not okay". Even outdoors.

With regard to the planned EU recommendation, the minister spoke out in favor of a "fact-based culture of debate". When the tabloid media "make a splash", some people think they have to "jump up", Rauch said in response to a question about a request to speak by Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP).

Last week, Nehammer had written on the online platform X that the EU should "stop trying to regulate people's lives down to the smallest detail and instead deal with the big issues such as migration and business location. The protection for non-smokers in Austria is sufficient, with the ÖVP there will be no ban on smoking outdoors."

In mid-September, the EU Commission proposed recommending that EU countries ban smoking, especially in places where children are present - such as playgrounds, swimming pools, schools, but also in outdoor areas of restaurants.

EU: "Tobacco-free generation" as a goal
In addition to the extension of smoke-free zones to outdoor areas, the extension to alternative tobacco products (e.g. electronic cigarettes, note) was also recommended. This was in response to findings that these products can also lead to health problems for passive users, according to a statement from the Commission at the time.

The recommendations adopted on Tuesday are part of the European Plan against Cancer. A "tobacco-free generation" by 2040, where less than five percent of people should still use tobacco products, is set as a sub-target.