SP(2010)793/2

Results of vote in Parliament

Following the debate which took place during the sitting of 25 November 2009 the European Parliament adopted by 520 votes to 53 with 45 abstentions a resolution on smoke-free environments.

The resolution had been tabled by the EPP, S&D, ALDE, ECR, Greens/ALE and GUE/NGL groups.

It notes that 25 % of all cancer deaths and 15 % of all deaths in the EU could be attributed to smoking, but that 70 % of the EU population are non-smokers and a broad majority of citizens are in favour of a ban in all public places (workplaces, restaurants, bars and pubs). According to conservative estimates, 7 300 adults, including 2 800 non-smokers, died as a result of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) at their workplace in the EU in 2002.

Parliament regrets that the Presidency decided to adopt the Council recommendation on smoke-free environments without the opinion of Parliament. It regrets the fact that the lack of comprehensive regulations on smoke-free environments in the majority of Member States (in particular in the hospitality and leisure sectors) results in inequalities between different occupational and socio-economic groups, hospitality workers being three times more likely to be exposed to tobacco smoke for over five hours a day than office workers. Parliament has consistently advocated stronger measures to tackle tobacco dependence and reduce exposure among young people to second-hand tobacco smoke, and it underlines the serious harmful effects of second-hand tobacco smoke during the vulnerable period of childhood, and the fact that children do not have the legal capacity to give their consent to systematic and long-term exposure to smoke-filled environments.

Members stress that the differing national laws result in huge differences in protection from exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke between Member States. Only a full smoking ban in all enclosed workplaces , including catering establishments, and in all public buildings and transport, can protect the health of employees and non-smokers and make it considerably easier for smokers to quit.

Parliament calls on the Commission to do the following:

to produce a report on the costs incurred by national health systems and the EU economy as a result of smoking and the effects of tobacco smoke pollution; to submit a proposal for the amendment of Directive 2001/37/EC on tobacco products, including at least the modifications contained in Parliament's resolution of 24 October 2007 on the Green Paper 'Towards a Europe free from tobacco smoke: policy options at EU level’; to produce a comprehensive study of the effects of the long-term and systematic exposure of children to second-hand and third-hand tobacco smoke in all their places of activity; with Member States, to use both the proposed Council recommendation and Member States’ best practices as a basis for input into the formulation of guidelines for the implementation of Article 14 Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) ('demand reduction measures concerning tobacco dependence and cessation'), to be adopted at the next Conference of the Parties to the FCTC; to continue implementing support measures at EU level, for instance awareness-raising measures including information on the packages of tobacco products, which are integrated with the national communications campaigns aimed at discouraging smoking; as with the measures in favour of a 'Europe without tobacco', to equip itself with new means to fight the different types of trafficking in and counterfeiting of tobacco products, notably on the Internet, in view of the immediate and increased dangers that they pose to consumers’ health.

With regard to the FCTC, Parliament proposes that the Council recommend that Member States establish an ongoing dialogue and consultation with all relevant stakeholders in accordance with the Article 5.3 FCTC implementation guidelines adopted at the Conference of the Parties to the FCTC in 2009, in order to ensure the support of all actors for the implementation of national tobacco control strategies and programmes. Those Member States which have already ratified the FCTC must implement its recommendations, as well as to report to the Commission biannually on the progress of their implementation.

Lastly, Parliament calls, once again, on the President and the Bureau, in the light of their duty to set an example to Member States, to adopt a smoking ban with no exemptions in all parts of Parliament and with immediate effect, with a rigorous enforcement of that ban.

T7-0100/2009

B7-0164/2009

O-0119/2009

Debate in Parliament

B7-0225/2009