One European in four smokes or uses a potentially dangerous "emerging product" such as electronic cigarettes. The European Commission has decided to tighten the rules. Photo: Shutterstock

One European in four smokes or uses a potentially dangerous "emerging product" such as electronic cigarettes. The European Commission has decided to tighten the rules. Photo: Shutterstock

The European Commission has finalised a new proposal to update anti-smoking legislation. The text provides for smoking bans to be extended to certain outdoor areas and for emerging products to be included in the legislation in order to protect citizens from exposure to aerosols and second-hand smoke.

As part of its plan to beat cancer, the EU is aiming for a drastic reduction in tobacco consumption. At present, around 25% of the European population uses tobacco, but the aim is to get the figure below 5% by 2040. This figure, considered alarming by Brussels, also includes growing concern about the use of new products such as electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco, consumption of which has increased in recent years.

In 2023, 3% of Europeans regularly used electronic cigarettes, compared with 2% in 2020. However, the health risk remains high, especially for young people, 54% of whom start smoking before the age of 19, and even 14% before the age of 15.

Of the people questioned in a Eurobarometer survey, 74% said they had been in the company of smokers and 71% had been in the company of users of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products on outdoor terraces in the last six months. 42% of those questioned reported that people smoked in outdoor places intended for children and adolescents, and 49% had been in contact with people using electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products in these same places.

The annual global economic cost of smoking was estimated at $1.4trn in 2012, equivalent to 1.8% of global gross domestic product (GDP). In the EU, smoking-related costs already amounted to €544bn in 2009, representing around 4.6% of the combined GDP of the EU27, according to the commission's proposal.

The aim of extending the rules is not only to protect the most vulnerable, in particular children and young people, but also to de-normalise smoking in public places. Support measures for the member states will be put in place to facilitate the adoption of these measures, while promoting international cooperation and research in this area. With this initiative, the commission hopes to reduce tobacco-related morbidity and the associated economic costs, while promoting a 'smoke-free generation'.

Read the French-language version of this news report

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