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EU Mulls Smoking Ban in Cafes, Bars, Restaurants
Reuters via Yahoo! News ^
| 09/18/2003
Posted on 09/18/2003 10:35:39 AM PDT by GeneD
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission is considering using worker safety legislation to ban smoking in cafes, bars and restaurants throughout the 15-member European Union, officials said on Thursday.
The Commission has launched a series of measures to crack down on smoking, including a ban on tobacco advertising and the need to have graphic images of diseased lungs and other organs on cigarette packets to warn of the dangers of smoking.
EU Health Commissioner David Byrne was quoted by the EUpolitix Web site as saying he could also launch a workplace ban. Such rules are common in the United States, where 100 cities, including New York, ban smoking in bars and restaurants.
Thorsten Muench, Commission spokesman, said Employment and Social Welfare Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou would also be involved in the drafting of such rules, and he confirmed the EU executive was looking into such measures.
"It's at a very early stage, no decisions have been taken," he told a news conference.
The Commision does not have any legal competence to ban smoking in bars and restaurants, but has previously asked member states to pass laws to protect against exposure to tobacco in places of work, closed public spaces and public transport.
Ireland has already gone down this route.
Byrne and Diamantopoulou are likely to face an uphill struggle to ban smoking in the EU, especially in the 10 mostly eastern European countries which will join the bloc in May and where cigarette consumption is far higher than the EU average.
The EU's biggest state, Germany, has also gone to the European Court of Justice, to try to overturn the ban on tobacco advertising on radio, the Internet and in newspapers.
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Germany; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: eu; europe; pufflist; smoking; smokingban
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1
posted on
09/18/2003 10:35:41 AM PDT
by
GeneD
To: GeneD
This should be hilarious.
2
posted on
09/18/2003 10:36:39 AM PDT
by
Publius6961
(californians are as dumb as a sack of rocks.)
To: GeneD
Most definitely the trigger that will dissolve the EU.
To: GeneD
EU Health Commissioner David Byrne So that's what he's been doing since Talking Heads.
4
posted on
09/18/2003 10:38:50 AM PDT
by
dfwgator
To: GeneD
Unelected officials deciding the fate of 15 (formerly)sovereign nations. What a hoot!
With these antics, the EU will be dead in 10 years.
5
posted on
09/18/2003 10:42:57 AM PDT
by
Cosmo
(I'm not one to hit a woman, but if Isabel ruins my wedding.....)
To: Publius6961
You bet...I can hardly wait.
To: *puff_list
ping
7
posted on
09/18/2003 10:45:10 AM PDT
by
Fraulein
(TCB)
To: GeneD
Finally, something to drive the French out of the EU.
So9
8
posted on
09/18/2003 10:47:44 AM PDT
by
Servant of the 9
(Real Texicans; we're grizzled, we're grumpy and we're armed)
To: GeneD
Europe has been soundly rejecting the U.S. Prohibitionist mentality of the past. I don't expect them to begin accepting any new ones.
9
posted on
09/18/2003 10:49:14 AM PDT
by
Wolfie
To: GeneD
There would be open rebellion in France, Spain and Italy as well. Nothing can evoke a heartier guffaw than an American asking a Spanish desk clerk for a non-smoking hotel room.
We were on a motorcoach tour in Europe a couple of summers back which had been (apparently) sold by the AAA as a nice "non-smoking tour thru Spain, Morocco and Portugal." What a hoot. Most of those on the bus were flabbergasted at the utter gall the Spanish, Moroccans and Portugese had in smoking here there and everywhere. Our tour guide, a smoker who pretended to be a non-smoker, took great pains to 'splain to the group that attitudes there are not the same as they are in the tea rooms in the US.
What was REALLY funny - at numerous restaurants we visited, to get a non-smoking table meant one had to eat OUTSIDE, because every table INSIDE was smoking.
Michael
To: Servant of the 9
Finally, something to drive the French out of the EUThat will do it, too. The French treat their right to smoke as sacred as some of us look at the 2nd amendment.
There has been more than one French politician that has had to find new employment after proposing this.
11
posted on
09/18/2003 10:55:43 AM PDT
by
dinasour
To: Publius6961
Publius, I'm new to the smoking ban events, therefore I have a question. If a person owns a restaurant/nightclub and owns the building, how can the state/city ban smoking on private property?
Did the politicians connected smoking ban law to their liquor license requirements?
I don't understand how government can get away with this kind of law.
Anyway thanks for the help.
To: Major_Risktaker
Its a workplace hazards issue.
13
posted on
09/18/2003 11:11:26 AM PDT
by
Wolfie
To: dinasour
Something the French may actually fight for?
14
posted on
09/18/2003 11:13:52 AM PDT
by
ErnBatavia
(Why do the Flag postage stamps peel off upside down..infiltrators?)
To: GeneD
Fascism returns to Europe.
15
posted on
09/18/2003 11:18:37 AM PDT
by
Protagoras
(Putting government in charge of morality is like putting pedophiles in charge of children.)
To: GeneD
Socialized medicine is waking up to a new generation of lung cancer victims and the government wants to stop paying for this Perk for Smokers! Everyone currently smokes here in Europe, or nearly everyone:) I think the politicians are purely driven by the desire to cut medical costs in future! It will certainly cut revenues from taxed tobacco.
16
posted on
09/18/2003 11:27:28 AM PDT
by
Jumper
To: ErnBatavia
Something the French may actually fight for?Absolutely. I have a good friend from Paris, who had the good sense to move over here (smart girl). She tells me that there have been near riots over this.
17
posted on
09/18/2003 11:28:18 AM PDT
by
dinasour
To: Wright is right!
LOL I believe it.
It's worse in Africa, I hear.
My old boss once flew to Africa from Europe, and the WHOLE PLANE was smoking, the entire trip. He said he spent the trip with his head 'tween his knees covered by a blanket.
18
posted on
09/18/2003 11:52:42 AM PDT
by
Guillermo
( Proud Infidel)
To: Guillermo
My old boss once flew to Africa from Europe, and the WHOLE PLANE was smoking, the entire trip. He said he spent the trip with his head 'tween his knees covered by a blanket.On a flight back from Madrid, the Spaniards across the aisle had to put out their smokes when the Captain wanted to "clear the air in the cabin." About ten minutes later, when the No Smoking light went out, they all, on cue, lit up fresh ones.
To: Jumper
Socialized medicine is waking up to a new generation of lung cancer victims and the government wants to stop paying for this Perk for Smokers! Everyone currently smokes here in Europe, or nearly everyone:) I think the politicians are purely driven by the desire to cut medical costs in future! It will certainly cut revenues from taxed tobacco. Smoking reduces health care costs as lung cancer kills quickly. An aging population's health care costs skyrocket as folks go beyond 80 years. A 2 pack per day x 45 year smoker goes out cheap and quick at 65 years.
If you are talking just financial costs, smoking pays.
20
posted on
09/18/2003 12:38:58 PM PDT
by
corkoman
(did someone say cheese?)
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