Catering for smokers: how the rest of Europe compares
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 at 8:26AM The biggest gripe I always hear from smokers is that our "Irish smoking ban" has no exemptions that allow for having a cigarette in comfort while out socialising.
With the best will in the world, our unpredictable weather makes going outside an unreliable option. The regulations also ensure (for no good reason), that the smoking rooms that can be provided must be cold, draughty, uncomfortable and open to the elements.
So when you learn that other countries have smoking bans you could be forgiven for presuming that they are every bit as extreme as our own one. I've quickly scanned the regulations pertaining among our European partners, with some surprising results.
Recently the Dutch amended their ban to allow owner-run pubs, under 80 square metres, to permit smoking anywhere in their bars. Imagine any bar at home of over 3,000 sq feet, run by the owner, being able to allow his customers to smoke if they please.
Similarly, in Bavaria, Germany, pubs smaller than 75 square metres can designate themselves as 'smoking permitted'. Restaurants are permitted to create smoking sections in side rooms. The provision of comfortable smoking rooms is permitted throughout Germany, subject to practical regulations.
Croatia also changed its laws in 2009. Proprietors with establishments that are up to 50 square metres will now be able to choose whether to allow smoking. Larger establishments will have to include a designated and separately ventilated smoking area. Their neighbours Serbia allow for designated smoking rooms anywhere.
It is important to note that these changes in the laws above allow for the publican in question to welcome smokers anywhere in his/her pub. But all pubs are permitted to provide fully enclosed, comfortable areas for smokers, unlike Ireland. But I digress. Let's continue our European tour.
In Belgium the smoking ban applies only where food is served. You can smoke freely in any bar that does not serve food.
A long weekend in Prague has become popular, so what of the Czech Republic? In June 2009 the parliament approved a bill regulating smoking in public places. The only change is that bars and restaurants where smoking is allowed must have a sign posted outside saying so. So when strolling through the old streets, simply look out for the smoking permitted signs.
Perhaps your trip to Prague might tempt you to explore elsewhere in the old Communist block. Smoking in Bulgaria is banned in all indoor public spaces except bars and restaurants. Did you get that? You can smoke freely in all bars and restaurants in Bulgaria!
In Hungary it's the owners choice and some have elected freely to make their bar smoke free, which is just fine and dandy. You can find what you want also.
The Poles also have one of these fashionable bans, though they naturally permit enclosed smoking areas within larger facilities. Smaller establishments have the option of allowing smoking.
The Russians have a very loose set-up. Their law requires specially designated smoking areas to be set up and also requires restaurants and cafes to set up no-smoking areas. Everyone is catered for.
In Serbia, as of November 2010, smoking is prohibited in all enclosed public spaces including restaurants, bars and internet cafes which have to designate a special room for smoking to be allowed. Again, the warm comfortable smoking room is provided to reflect the reality.
The clever Swiss also knew that they had to cater for smokers. Their law includes exemptions for bars and restaurants which may allow smoking in separate, ventilated rooms or in establishments smaller than 80 square meters.
Their neighbours Austria also offers the Irish visitor a choice. As of January 2009 a new law was put in place which mandates all restaurants, bars, discos and pubs which are larger than 80 square metres to introduce smoking rooms and non-smoking rooms. Below 50 square metres the owner may opt to either be smoking or non-smoking. Between 50-80 square metres there is an option under certain circumstances.
In Luxembourg smoking is banned in all indoor public places like hospitals, shopping centres, schools and restaurants. However, cafés and bars that only serve snacks are exempt from the law. There is a smoking prohibition from 12 noon to 14:00 and 19:00 to 21:00 in cafés in which meals are served.
France is a favourite destination for the Irish. Under the new regulations smoking rooms are allowed but are subjected to very strict conditions. They may occupy at most 20 per cent of the total floor space of the establishment and their size may not be more than 35 square metres, which is over three and half thousand square feet.
They need to be equipped with separate ventilation which replaces the full volume of air ten times per hour which is highly desirable. The air pressure of the smoking room must constantly be lower than the pressure in the contiguous rooms and they must have doors that close automatically. No service can be provided in the smoking rooms; and cleaning and maintenance personnel may enter the room only one hour after it was last used for smoking. Nothing there to upset us, I think.
So what of the Nordic Countries? Norway is every bit as extreme as Ireland - in other words, it's a very smoker-unfriendly country. Sweden, however, is surprising. In Sweden smoking was banned in restaurants, cafes, bars and nightclubs in June 2005. Smoking rooms are however allowed in these establishments. And we are not talking about an outside shed with two of its four walls knocked down.
Likewise in Denmark separate smoking rooms are allowed in hospitality establishments as long as no food or beverage is served there. The practical Finns have come up with smoking booths. Smoking in bars and trains is still allowed in enclosed smoking booths, where you can't serve or take any food or drink.
Looking to Southern Europe it appears that the Spanish are trying to bring an Irish-style ban. But when you think of Spain, do you dream of sitting indoors in a bar or outside? Enough said.
In May 2007 the Portuguese parliament made a law banning smoking in all public places, except when proper air-ventilation systems are provided. It went into effect 1 January 2008. Remember, our Government was told that ETS was so terribly dangerous that no amount of ventilation would prevent barmen from falling down stone dead. Apparently the air in Portugal is fresher than our own .... or something.
An Italian without a cigarette is like an Englishman without a stiff upper lip. So in Italy special smoking rooms are allowed where food can be served, but they are subjected to strict conditions. They need to be separately ventilated, with high air replacement rates. Their air pressure must constantly be lower than the pressure in the surrounding rooms. They must be equipped with automatic sliding doors to prevent smoke from spreading to tobacco-free areas, and they may occupy at most 50 per cent of the establishment.
In Greece, in 2010, they introduced a smoking ban but the bars and restaurants simply ignored it. Under a campaign titled 'Ashtrays Back Out' the operators said they would flout the regulations which prohibits lighting up in enclosed public spaces.
I'll finish our European tour by including Israel because they are allowed into the Eurovision Song Contest (arf, arf). They can also designate a well-ventilated and completely separate area for smokers, as long as the non-smokers' area does not fall below 75 per cent of the whole area.
As you can see, there is a consistent theme of catering for smokers throughout Europe. It's a recognition that smoking bans are ostensibly introduced to protect non-smokers from the alleged ill-effects of environmental tobacco smoke. They were never designed to punish smokers for enjoying a legal product. So, variously, there are bars for smokers and non-smokers alike. There are comfortable smoking rooms with proper ventilation almost everywhere. There are laws that permit room cleaning an hour after closing time, and there is a widespread recognition of the owners' rights to run their business as they see fit.
Ireland - like Britain and now Spain - has chosen a far more extreme policy. Now that we have seen the damage that it has done to Ireland's pubs, politicians might reflect on the need for change to bring Ireland into line with some of the more enlightened countries mentioned above.
Just a thought.
Reader Comments (12)
Could I have the authors permission to send this to the 650 M.P.'s in the U.K. please.
I have visited Paris on several occasions both before and after the ban. I didn't notice any bars or cafes with smoking rooms. How common are they and is the cost of conforming to the regulations prohibitve?
Jon,
Check: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/8219259/Gentlemans-smoking-lounge-makes-Parisian-comeback.html
Unfortunately, I am a Forest volunteer, not a well padded helper in the caring profession. So an all expenses paid, fact finding whistle stop tour around the best boozers in Europe, is on hold for me just now.
In the absence of that (though Simon, I'm available at short notice for same), I put the lists together from various sources. I am campaigning for 'comfortable' smoking rooms here in Ireland, because there is no logical/legal reason they should not be available.
In that context, publicans here I have spoken to would be very supportive, but point out that some bars do not have the space for them, others do have the capital to build something separate and yet others may simply have accepted the ban and don't care that their smoking patrons have to go outside in the rain.
I have no problem with any of that. However, if comfortable smoking rooms (under new regulations) were permitted, and one of the six publicans within walking distance from my house were to build one, he'd get my custom from then on.
I suspect that the considerations in France are similar, though further South in that country, sitting on the veranda is perfectably acceptable. Not so here !
Good article, but a couple of quick points. Denmark allows complete choice if the area of the bar is below 40 square metres (I went to one bar that had a notice saying it was 39.2 square metres - bet the owner was relieved). Also, to nitpick, 35 square metres is about 350 suare feet, not 3,500.
Thanks Mallom. I saw the Telegraph article. As a smoker, I am on the lookout for indoor smoking facilities when I visit Paris, and I haven't found any in "normal" bars and cafes - apart from the terraces cordoned off with plastic curtains. Perhaps large Sport TV bars have them?
Mallon, Apologies for spelling your name incorrectly.
David,
Thank you for your observations. I apologise for adding an extra nought on my square area tot, but I believe my calculator should take some of the blame. Thank you for the up-to-date information on Denmark also. It was my hope that the article would prompt people to share their knowledge of conditions in foreign parts.
Our push for 'comfortable' smoking rooms is in line with our support for the right to enjoy a smoke. In Ireland, smoking rooms are specifically regulated to be uncomfortable to make the smoker miserable. There is no legal or scientific reason for this being so.
So, when I began reading about smoking bans in other countries, it was a bit of an eye opener for me. If I get to speak with smokers back from trips abroad, I'll try to update this country-by-country.
A litte extra correction about Denmark: As noted all bars and cafes not serving food that is below 40m2 "serving area" is allowed free choice. The point is that "serving area" means only the space containing the serving tables themselves. Not calculating the bar, the wardrobe or a stage or a pool table.
That rule has made it possible for quite a few bars in Copenhagen to allow smoking. On top of that many bar owners have downsized their "serving area". It is not all that bad.
Its very helpful to smokers, who are mostly an easy going lot and never make demands, to get this information about the various countries smoking arrangements and well done to Forest Eireann for this information.
Spain is really shooting themselves in the foot by extending their ban, especially with their big swing of the mickey announcement that they are now designating 30% hotel rooms to smokers.
Everyone knows how difficult it is to book a hotel on line these days trying to tick the appropriate boxes etc but now its going to be made more difficult than ever trying to find if there are any smoking rooms left before you even choose.
You would think, with the state of the economy in Spain, that our masters in the European parliament would have more serious matters to deal with than the further jackboot enforcement of this stupid smoking ban.
But I guess when they have us, and the rest of the PIGS by the short and curleys, dependant on what they call a 'bailout' but actually means giving us back our own money, cowardly soverign govts feel they have no choice but to comply with their diktat.
Personally, and possibly for many other smokers, Spain will be off the map for holidays in the future.
It is clear that the smoking ban here in the Uk, is not just about second hand smoke and bar staff. If smokers were provided with a choice of indoor areas here in the UK's bars, the ban would not have caused around 100,000 job losses, as smokers would still use pubs and clubs. I see Spain is the latest country, not to accommodate smokers and I understand Adolf Hitler operated something like this. Its easy to see why smokers in Britain feel persecuted and compare the ban to living under The Third Reich. Thank you this is a great guide for getting out of the UK.
Correction: Bavaria is the one German Bundesland with a total ban. The OTHER states allow options for smokers, but NOT Bavaria.
Ann, you mentioned difficulties in booking hotels on-line. I always phone the hotel in question, firstly to see if they have any smoking rooms, and secondly to ensure I get one. I also make a strong point that if I don't get one, I will not stay. The web-site Booking.com is quite good, with two categories, "Non-smoking rooms" or "Smoking prohibited in all private and public spaces" under each hotel's description. The former means that there are also "smoking rooms". I don't know about you, but if I'm paying an exorbitant price for a room, I REFUSE to go outside to smoke, particularly as the law doesn't require it and it is the hotel's choice.