Member States agreed on strengthening measures against secondhand smoke

EU Health Ministers agreed to extend a set of recommendations on smoke and aerosol-free environments to emerging products such as heated tobacco products, electronic cigarettes containing nicotine or nicotine-free, tobacco surrogates, and “any other smoke or aerosol emitting products such as herbal products for smoking”.

The text adopted by the 27 calls for providing “effective protection” in indoor workplaces, indoor public places, and public transport based on the World Health Organization reports on the adverse health effects of these products. According to the scientific findings mentioned in the text, exposure to secondhand emissions is associated with “significant respiratory and cardiovascular abnormalities in bystanders”. Member States are also asked to take protective measures for outdoor or semi-outdoor areas such as those included in restaurants, bars and cafe spaces, bus stops, and other outdoor areas associated with a place of work or with premises related to healthcare and education.

The text also stresses the need to develop national strategies and programs for prevention, smoking cessation, and awareness-raising campaigns and to create conditions for new best practices against secondhand smoke.

Disagreements in the European Parliament torpedoed the attempt to approve a non-binding text of the resolution on the matter proposed by the European People’s Party, Socialists, and Democrats, Renew Europe, and the Greens/EFA. It fell on deaf ears as the EPP supported an ECR-led amendment proposal to draw a distinction between emerging products and traditional tobacco products.

In one of the amendments proposed, the Conservatives expressed “concern about the much broader scope and possible lack of proportionality and effectiveness of a general ban on smoking or consumption of tobacco products in outdoor areas“. They also recalled “the need for policies to respect the principle of harm reduction” and pointed out “that new and emerging products can enable smokers to progressively quit smoking.”

Most right-wing groups in the Parliament were dissatisfied with the proposal, and S&D, Renew Europe, and the Greens/EFA groups opposed it because of the amendments approved in between, resulting in 378 votes against, 152 in favour and 26 abstension the whole text.

“A lot of colleagues from the right, and not only, find it difficult to accept scientific evidence, they put forward dangerous amendments denying science, saying that these products are less dangerous, and this is unacceptable,” S&D-affiliated Alessandra Moretti stated during a debate.

The ECR claimed the text to be objectively lacking. “If we wish to have a ban, you will have to give me some kind of scientific evidence. Otherwise, this can’t happen,” the Italian deputy Pietro Fiocchi highlighted. “The bans won’t work, that’s why, once again, we must try to whittle down the risk, comparing new products to traditional products, that’s wrong”, he further claimed.

The EU Commission is determined to achieve a tobacco-free generation in which less than 5% of the Union population uses tobacco products by 2040. This objective is in line with Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.

EU Commissioner Helena Dalli intervened during the debate and expressed the will of the EU Executive to couple the set of recommendations that the Council adopted soon after to the “ongoing work to evaluate the rules” in force at the transnational level. To what extent the Parliament’s opinion will be relevant remains to be seen.