Legend

The smokefree policy Map on this website was made possible through an unrestricted grant from GSK

In 2009, many EU countries are still failing to enact comprehensive smokefree air laws in indoor public places, work places and public transit, in spite of its legal obligation to do so under the (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the world’s first public health treaty. (As of today, 162 countries joined the treaty so far. All EU Member States with the exception of the Czech Republic have ratified the (WHO) FCTC)

Over the past several years, a number of EU countries have enacted strong smokefree air laws that ban smoking in virtually all indoor workplaces and public places, including bars, pubs and restaurants:

Tobacco industry’s predictions of economic doom for the hospitality industry never materialized. Independent studies consistently show that smokefree laws have a positive or neutral effect on businesses.

All EU Member States currently have some form of regulation aimed at limiting exposure to second-hand smoke. However, the scope and character of these regulations differ widely:
 Total bans on smoking in all enclosed public places and workplaces, including bars and restaurants, are so far in place in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
 Italy, Malta, Sweden, Latvia, Finland, Slovenia, France and the Netherlands have introduced smoke-free legislation allowing for special enclosed smoking rooms. The experience of these and other countries has proven that smokefree air laws are effective, popular, enforceable and inexpensive. Also the public acceptance of smokefree air laws is extremely high, even among smokers. For example, in Ireland, researchers found that 83 percent of smokers reported that the smokefree law was a "good" or "very good" thing.
 The latest country who introduced a smoke free law is Romania: Starting in January 1, 2009, smoking in public places will only be allowed in special ventilated rooms which don’t serve as transit or access spaces (smoking spaces should only take up a maximum of 50 per cent of customer-allotted space. They must be provided with ventilation and be isolated for non-smoking areas. Public houses with a surface area under 100 sq m can choose between operating as smoking or non-smoking venues. The Smoke Free Partnership is unsure yet on how the law will be being applied in the country.
 However, in more than half of the Member States, citizens and workers are still not fully protected from exposure to tobacco smoke in indoor workplaces and public places. Bars and restaurants are a particularly difficult area of regulation.