France to ban smoking in public places including at beaches and parks
France will ban smoking in all outdoors areas frequented by children, including beaches, in parks and outside schools from July.
The ban, which follows similar measures across an increasingly smoking-averse Europe, will exempt cafe outdoor terraces and will not apply to electronic cigarettes, the government said.
"Where there are children, tobacco must disappear," Health and Families Minister Catherine Vautrin said in an interview with the Ouest France newspaper late on Thursday.
"From July 1, beaches, public parks and gardens, school areas, bus shelters, and sports facilities will be smoke-free throughout France. Smoking will therefore be prohibited there, to protect our children."
Vautrin said smoking kills around 200 people every day in France.
Smoking in France is at historic lows, according to a report published this month by the French Observatory for Drugs and Addictive Trends.
It found that just under a quarter of people aged 18-75 smoked daily, the lowest since it began keeping records in the late 1990s.
Some Spanish regions have banned smoking on beaches, while Sweden has outlawed smoking in outdoor restaurant terraces, bus stops, train platforms and schoolyards since 2019.
The UK announced a similar smoking ban last year.
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill was introduced to parliament in November 2024, which proposed a ban on smoking outside schools, hospitals and playgrounds.
The bill also includes some of the world's strictest anti-smoking rules, including banning children born since 2009 from ever being able to buy cigarettes.
At the time, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: 'Unless we act to help people stay healthy, the rising tide of ill health in our society threatens to overwhelm and bankrupt our NHS. Prevention is better than cure.
'This Government is taking bold action to create the first smoke-free generation, clamp down on kids getting hooked on nicotine through vapes, and protect children and vulnerable people from the harms of secondhand smoke.
'This historic legislation will save thousands of lives and protect the NHS. By building a healthy society, we will also help to build a healthy economy, with fewer people off work sick.'
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