The European Commission recommends that member states extend smoking bans to outdoor areas, including for electronic cigarettes and nicotine-free products.
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00:00In some years, the sight of people smoking on bar terraces might be a thing of the past.
00:06This Tuesday, the European Commission presented a recommendation
00:09to extend smoking-free areas to playgrounds, swimming pools, bus stops, stations
00:15or outdoor areas from schools and hospitals.
00:19And for the first time, Brussels asks it to be applied to vapors and electronic cigarettes.
00:26I think it's a good idea because it's not nice for non-smokers, I can see that.
00:33But I'm a smoker myself.
00:35I don't think I will quit smoking when they ban it on terraces
00:39because that's not my motivation to quit.
00:43It doesn't really bother me, to be honest,
00:45because vapes, they don't really have that strong of a smell
00:48and I think bars should be the place.
00:51It's not the place where you would bring kids or something.
00:54The text is non-binding, which means that countries won't be forced to apply it.
01:00But still, for organizations against tobacco, it's good news.
01:08It expands the scope of the original recommendation from 2009
01:12to include outdoor spaces like parks, for example, and playgrounds,
01:16but also it includes new products which are extremely consumed among the youth, among teenagers.
01:23So we believe that this proposal has the power to reduce smoking prevalence,
01:29especially of new products with the youth.
01:32With the recommendation, the European Commission is trying to work towards its goal
01:36to achieve a smoke-free generation by 2040,
01:40with less than 5% of the population smoking.
01:43Today, it is at 24%.