Smoke free pubs across Europe
January 3, 2008 by knutalbert
Those who want a beer without having to dry clean their clothes and wash their hair the next day have an increasing list of countries to choose from in Europe. Both France and Portugal have banned smoking in bars and cafes from January first.
The list now includes Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. To this you should add half of the German Länder (and a Swiss canton for good measure).
The cry has been This will never work here in country after country. But a measure of how timely this legislation is can be seen in Italy. It seems to this observer it is the only law they actually follow. Even in Sicily.
Who’s next? The Dutch?
We smokers need a save haven where we could smoke and drink beer at one spot. If all of EU keeps adopting this discriminatory legislation we probably need to buy a land area and declare it an independent country with constitutional protection against bullying smokers. Tobacco industry might be interested in financing the project.
Maybe. Or maybe you should think of it as a lost cause?
Holland next? Well, we’re supposed to go no-smoking in the summer. But if you know what Dutch politics are like, you’ll understand that there’s no guarantee it will actually happen.
I can’t wait. Especially in the winter, there are some pubs I avoid just because they are too damn smoky.
And the Belgians probably have to get a government before they can pass legislation on anything!