Austria shies
from total smoking ban in restaurants
VIENNA
(AFP) - Austria said Friday it will not impose a complete ban on smoking in
restaurants as other european nations have done but instead will toughen
legislation to discourage the habit.
There will be no total ban on smoking in restaurants,"
Health Minister Andrea Kdolsky told a news conference.
Rather, she said, a 2005 law that forbids smoking in public
places -- but which specifically excludes cafes and restaurants -- would be
reinforced from January 1 next year to require larger restaurants to split
their dining areas 50-50 between smoking and non-smoking sections.
Smaller eateries would have to decide whether they were
smoking or non-smoking establishments and put up a sign declaring their choice.
The stricter measures came in the wake of a government study
whose results Kdolsky presented on Friday.
It showed that only 58 percent of 1,299 restaurants
inspected across the country were voluntarily prohibiting smoking.
An estimated 14,000 people die of smoking related diseases
in Austria each year.
Other EU nations have legislated to stop smoking in
restaurants and cafes, among them Ireland, Italy, Malta, Scotland, Spain,
Sweden and Wales. England is set to follow in July this year, as is France from
January next year.