Friday, May 30, 2025 - France will ban smoking in all outdoor places that can be accessed by children, including beaches, parks and bus stops, the health and family minister announced Thursday, May 29.
France has increasingly tightened restrictions
on tobacco use in public spaces in recent years.
The new ban, which will enter into force on July 1, will
cover all spaces where children could be present, including "beaches,
parks, public gardens, outside of schools, bus stops and sports venues,"
the minister Catherine Vautrin said.
"Tobacco must disappear where there are children,"
Vautrin said in an interview published by the regional Ouest-France daily on
its website.
The freedom to smoke "stops where children's right to
breathe clean air starts", she said.
The ban will also extend to schools, to stop students
smoking in front of them.
Offenders face a fine of up to €135 ($154), Vautrin said.
The ban will not extend to France's iconic cafe terraces
however, the minister said.
Electronic cigarettes, which have boomed in France in recent
years, are also not covered.
France already forbids smoking in public spaces such as
workplaces, airports and train stations, as well as playgrounds.
Anti-smoking groups had been fighting for a broader
ban.
An estimated 35 percent of France's population are smokers
– higher than the averages for Europe (25 percent) and the world (21
percent), according to the World Health Organization.
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