France to partially ban smoking in public areas to protect children

France is to ban smoking in public outdoor spaces - including beaches, parks, school zones, bus stops and sports facilities - starting July 1 as part of a nationwide effort to protect children, Health Minister Catherine Vautrin announced.

In an interview published Thursday evening by Ouest France newspaper, Vautrin said: "Where there are children, tobacco must disappear," adding that she also plans to lower the nicotine content in vaping products and reduce the number of flavours available.

Anyone who violates the new smoking ban will have to pay a fine of €135 ($153). The regulation is to be monitored by the municipal police.

"My goal is both simple and deeply ambitious: to ensure that children born in 2025 become the first smoke-free generation," the minister said.

The new nationwide smoking restrictions, many of which were already in place at the local level, are designed to support that vision, she said.

Outdoor seating at cafés and the use of e-cigarettes remain exempt from the ban.

The minister said that the size of the area around schools where smoking would no longer be permitted in future was still being determined.

The regulation should also prevent pupils from going outside the building to smoke.

In 2023, 15.6% of 17-year-olds said they smoked, compared to twice as many 10 years earlier.

Smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death in France, responsible for 75,000 deaths annually - or more than 200 per day, the health minister said.

Vautrin noted that it has been proven that prevention reduces the risk.

She also noted the economic toll, with cancer costing the country €150 billion per year.

Vautrin emphasized that the right to smoke is not being abolished.

"People are free to smoke at home or in designated areas. But that freedom ends where a child's right to clean air begins."