SMOKE FREE PARTNERSHIP POLICY MATERIALS

In December 2024, the Council officially adopted its Recommendation on Smoke and Aerosol-Free Environments, marking a significant victory for public health across the EU. This initiative expands protections by covering heated tobacco products, e-cigarettes (both nicotine and nicotine-free), and tobacco surrogates, ensuring stronger safeguards for everyone.

Key highlights:

• Broader Scope: new and emerging tobacco products are included.
• Expanding Smoke & Aerosol-Free Zones: protection now extends to public playgrounds, amusement parks, healthcare & education premises, beaches, outdoor restaurant spaces, and transport hubs.
• Tobacco’s Toll: smoking remains a leading cause of preventable disease, affecting millions across the EU, this recommendation is a crucial step in tackling the issue.

We have created an infographic summarising these key provisions and statistics. Also available in multiple languages (CS, DE, EL, ES, HU, IT, MT, PL, PT). 

SFP supports the European Commission's 2024 proposal for a Council Recommendation on Smoke- and Aerosol-Free Environments. This initiative builds on existing protections to address new products, such as heated tobacco and e-cigarettes, extending smoke-free policies to public and outdoor spaces, including areas frequented by children and families. Alongside the proposal, we offer our own analysis to further highlight the health and environmental benefits of restricting aerosol-emitting products in both indoor and outdoor settings. This proposal is a key step toward creating a healthier, smoke-free Europe and advancing the EU's goal of a Tobacco-Free Generation.

Bruxelles, 15 décembre 2022: Le Smoke Free Partnership (SFP) salue l’initiative de la Commission visant à mettre à jour la recommandation de 2009 relative aux environnements sans tabac. SFP partage l’avis selon lequel une telle mise à jour est grandement nécessaire, compte tenu des dernières évolutions du marché, des dernières conclusions des études menées sur les effets de la fumée de tabac et des aérosols des produits émergents sur la santé et l’environnement, la vulnérabilité particulière des enfants à la fumée de tabac secondaire et tertiaire et de la forte divergence des législations antitabac entre les États Membres. 

Brussels, 15 December 2022: The Smoke Free Partnership (SFP) welcomes the Commission’s initiative to revise the 2009 Recommendation on smoke-free environments. SFP agrees that such a revision is much needed, given the latest market developments, the latest findings of studies regarding the impact of tobacco smoke and emerging products’ aerosols on health and the environment, the specific vulnerability of children to second-hand and third-hand tobacco smoke, and the wide divergence of smoke-free laws across Member States.

Brussels, 20 July 2022: SFP welcomes the Commission’s initiative to revise its 2009 recommendation on Smoke-Free Environments. Recommendation on Smoke-Free Environments is key if the EU is to denormalize smoking in order to achieve the target set in the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan to reduce smoking prevalence across the EU to 5% in 2040.

17 April 2007. The Smoke Free Partnership organized a workshop entitled Smoke Free Places as part of the EPHA Conference Health in the Enlarged EU in Bratislava.

13 May 2005. The European strategy meeting on the implementation of Smoke free Policies in Europe, also known as the Cyprus meeting, was organised in Limassol, Cyprus.