Brussels, Dec. 3, (dpa/GNA) – A majority of European Union health ministers on Tuesday signalled their support for extending smoke-free areas in a bid to reduce cancer deaths.
Germany, which is among the EU members with the weakest smoking restrictions, abstained from the vote in Brussels on the non-binding recommendations.
The aim of the new guidelines is to restrict smoking in public areas where children or other vulnerable people gather outdoors, like playgrounds, amusement parks, public swimming pools, restaurant terraces and public transport.
The recommendations also target emerging tobacco products, like electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products, to deter young people from smoking.
Reducing exposure to second-hand smoke and aerosols would mean better protection for non-smokers, an EU press release said.
The European Commission proposed the overhaul of the current guidelines from 2009 as every year around 700,000 people in the EU lose their lives due to tobacco consumption, the new EU Health Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi said ahead of the vote.
“It is the largest avoidable health risk in the EU,” Varhelyi stressed.
According to EU figures, a quarter of cancer deaths in the EU, Iceland and Norway can be attributed to smoking, making tobacco the leading cancer risk.
Health policy however is a competence of EU member states, meaning that the new recommendations are non-binding and capitals are free to implement them or not.
German Health Ministry State Secretary Thomas Steffen said he abstained from the vote, despite supporting the stricter guidelines, after the 16 German states, which are responsible for legislation on the smoking restrictions, had spoken out against them.
Germany is among the EU countries with the weakest protection for non-smokers, according to Smoke Free Partnership, an alliance of non-governmental organizations campaigning for strict smoking regulations.
The vote had sparked controversy in Germany and beyond amid concerns over blanket smoking bans.
Johannes Rauch, health minister of Germany’s neighbouring country Austria, stressed that the new guidelines are non-binding, as he arrived at the ministers’ meeting, but stressed his support.
“It is hard to see why cigarette butts should be left lying around in children’s playgrounds when we know that they contain harmful substances that are actually dangerous for small children crawling on the ground,” he said.
“That’s where my tolerance really comes to an end.”
Rauch also held tabloid media to account for fuelling the controversy.
“I would like to firmly state that fake news has been spread,” he said, adding that Austria had already implemented many of the new recommendations ahead the vote.
GNA