Commission recommends stronger measures on smoke-free environments to better protect public health

Today, the Commission has recommended to better protect people from the effects of second-hand smoke and aerosols through the revision of the Council Recommendation on smoke-free environments.

The new initiative recommends that Member States extend smoke-free environment policies to key outdoor areas, to better protect people in the EU, particularly children and young people.

These areas include outdoor recreational areas where children are likely to congregate such as public playgrounds, amusement parks and swimming pools; outdoor areas connected to healthcare and education premises; public buildings; service establishments; and transport stops and stations.

The Recommendation also recommends that Member States extend smoke-free environment policies to emerging products such as heated tobacco products (HTPs) and electronic cigarettes, which increasingly reach very young users. This comes after the World Health Organisation (WHO) highlighted the negative effects of exposure to second-hand emissions from these emerging products, including significant respiratory and cardiovascular problems.

The Commission is also encouraging Member States to exchange best practices and strengthen international cooperation to maximise the impact of the measures taken across the EU. The Commission will provide support, including through a direct grant worth €16 million from the EU4Health programme and €80 million from the Horizon Programme, to reinforce tobacco and nicotine control as well as addiction prevention. The Commission will also develop a prevention toolkit to support the protection of children and young people’s health.

Today’s recommendations to better protect people from exposure to second-hand smoke and aerosols are addressed to the Member States. Given that health policy is a Member State competence, they are invited to implement these recommendations through their own policies, as they see fit, i.e. taking into account their national circumstances and needs.

Background

Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan set the goal of creating a ‘Tobacco-Free Generation’ by 2040, where less than 5% of the population uses tobacco. Today’s proposal represents another step forward in efforts to improve preventive health. It also supports the de-normalisation of the use of tobacco and emerging products.

Tobacco is the leading risk factor for cancer, with more than a quarter of cancer deaths attributed to smoking in the EU, Iceland, and Norway. Deaths and other health indicators (such as heart attacks in the general population and improvements to respiratory health) have improved thanks to smoke-free environments.

In particular, today’s Recommendation covers emerging products such as heated tobacco products (HTPs) and electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). These products have heavily increased their market share. They are often branded with misleading claims related to their supposed safety or usefulness as smoking cessation tools. However, their potential harmful effects are serious, and their users can become addicted to nicotine as well as often ending up using both traditional tobacco and emerging products.

The Recommendation also extends the coverage of smoke-free environment policies to key outdoor areas. These include public playgrounds, amusement parks, swimming pools, transport stops and stations, outdoor areas connected to healthcare and education premises, and public buildings.

Source: European Commission