There are changes going on in Europe as far as smoking laws. When a country bans smoking in the workplace, that effectively bans smoking in most places. Some countries have banned smoking in restaurants, businesses and pubs, and most European countries now have a ban in place for the workplace. Ireland lead the way in March 2004 with legislation that bans smoking in workplaces and, therefore, places a ban on smoking in pubs and restaurants.
Italy and Norway followed Ireland’s lead. Now countries such as Portugal, Sweden and Britain have drafted legislation to establish their own smoking bans. Interestingly, Albania has the highest rate of smokers in Europe, and in the summer of 2006, the government approved a resolution to ban smoking in public places. Austria bans smoking in public places but not in the workplace. The country of Belgium has a ban on smoking in enclosed workplaces but allows smoking in designated areas if the employer chooses to create one. As of July 2011, Belgium will ban smoking in all public places.
Bulgaria has a weak ban in place while Croatia bans smoking in hospitals except psychiatric facilities. The ban includes all enclosed public places. Cyprus has a ban as well but allows bars, cafes, and restaurant owners to decide if they want to allow it in well-ventilated businesses. Denmark has a complete ban on smoking in public transportation but has a partial ban in bars, workplaces and restaurants.
While there is a complete ban of smoking on public transportation in Denmark, they are implementing a partial ban in bars, restaurants and workplaces. Estonia, Finland and France have complete smoke-free systems in all public places. Germany has a ban on smoking in large pubs and restaurants.
Greece and Hungry have a high rate of tobacco use, and both have a weak ban on smoking in public places. Iceland and Lithuania have been smoke-free since 2007. Latvia allows smoking in bars and restaurants, but owners must have no-smoking rooms. In the case of Luxembourg, they recently passed a ban on smoking in public places, but workplaces allow employers to protect employees from passive smoke. So that legislation is somewhat vague. Malta bans smoking in enclosed premises including bars and restaurants.
The Netherlands has a complete ban that covers the workplace but exempts small bars and restaurants, and Norway and Poland have smoking banned except in workplaces that have designated smoking areas while Romania and Scotland have a ban on smoking in all workplaces. Slovakia bans smoking in workplaces that have nonsmokers while Slovenia has a total ban in all enclosed public places with exemptions for separate smoking areas.
Spain prohibits smoking in the workplace with one of the toughest anti-smoking laws in Europe. Sweden and Switzerland have most workplaces banned from smoking, but they do allow separate well-ventilated smoking options. Finally, Wales has banned smoking in most public places.
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