At the end of June, the EU Commission launched a call for evidence on a proposal to extend a 2009 recommendation on smoke-free environments to include vaping and heated tobacco products.

The aim of the recommendation is to encourage all EU member states to implement bans on vaping and heated tobacco use in a variety of public places. While a document supporting the recommendation as covering “indoor and enclosed spaces” adds that policies for “outdoor spaces, such as schools, playgrounds and outdoor eating establishments” are not included in the scope of the EU recommendation, but rather should be decided on a case-by-case basis by governments of individual EU member states.

The EC wants to restrict use safer nicotine alternatives

The Commission intends to change the recommendation to “explicitly include certain outdoor and quasi-outdoor spaces in the definition of smoke-free environments” and extend the scope to include safer nicotine alternatives such as vapes and heated tobacco products.

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