Note:Last Updated: Tuesday, 1 January 2008, 10:10 GMT
Paris and Berlin ban cafe smoking
Smoking has been banned in bars in the capitals of France and Germany but the laws will not be enforced immediately.
Eight German states, including Berlin, have ushered in 2008 declaring their pubs and restaurants smoke-free.
Almost a third of Germans smoke and the authorities in Berlin have decided not to enforce the restrictions actively for the first six months.
In France, a law forbidding smoking in public places has now been extended to bars, cafes and hotels.
Grace period
Paris reporter Hugh Schofield says attitudes to smoking have changed dramatically in France in the past year and any fears that people will generally ignore the new law can be discarded.
The French health ministry allowed smokers a 24-hour "grace" period for the New Year festivities in a gesture of "tolerance".
Any smoker caught flouting the ban thereafter can be fined up to 450 euros (£332; $662), while those who turn a blind eye to smokers on their premises can be fined up to 750 euros.
SMOKING IN EUROPE
Greece has the highest proportion of adult smokers in Europe - 45%
Ireland was the first European country to implement a comprehensive ban on smoking in public places in March 2004
Norway followed soon after, but allowed a smokers' corner in workplaces
Italy banned workplace smoking in January 2005 and Naples and Verona have made smoking illegal in public parks
Belgium allows smoking in cafes and bars if they have ventilation installed and are at least 50sq m (538sq ft) in area
France has about 13.5 million smokers among its population of 60.7 million.
Restrictions on smoking also came into force in Portugal on Tuesday, but the rules were not as tight as in France or Germany.
Portuguese bars smaller than 100sq m (1,076sq ft) can still opt to allow smoking. Public buildings can still have smoking zones, provided they are clearly signposted and ventilated.
German restaurants and pubs have strongly resisted the bans, not only because of the potential loss of income but partly because of an earlier crackdown on smoking initiated by Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime.
The sensitivity of the issue has prompted the authorities to allow special rooms to be set up purely for smokers.
In Lower Saxony where a ban is already in place, chef Michael Windisch came up with the idea of a "smoking point", which he hopes will allow smokers to enjoy a puff without leaving the premises.
The toughest rules in Germany are being brought in in Bavaria, where no smoking rooms will be allowed.
Lighting up is also likely to be banned at the state's Munich beer festival in October.
Cultural shift
The new ban is seen as a big cultural shift for France, where smoky cafes have long been the haunts of famous artists and philosophers.
The ban does not include pavement tables or open-air terraces.
Similar bans are already in place in Britain, Ireland, Italy and Spain.
In 2004, Ireland became the first European country to introduce a comprehensive smoking ban in all workplaces, including pubs and restaurants.
Smoking was made illegal in bars and cafes in Lithuania in 2007.
The law has now been extended to include other public places.
German restaurants and pubs have strongly resisted the bans, not only because of the potential loss of income but partly because of an earlier crackdown on smoking initiated by Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime.
Anyway, this is good news. Though not mentioned in this specific story, I saw another (that I can't find just now) that had some bar owner complaining that smoking bans will drive away smoking customers, causing business to suffer. I wonder about this claim, because who is to say that more people who do not smoke might be more inclined to show up now that the smokers have gone (and increase business as a whole)?
For example, after the smoking ban in New York took effect:
Data from the city's Department of Finance shows that the money spent in New York bars and restaurants has increased, the report states: from April 2003 to January, the city collected about $17.3 million in tax payments from bars and restaurants, a rise of about $1.4 million over the same period a year earlier.
The payments were for the general corporation tax and the unincorporated business tax, and are usually collected quarterly from restaurants and bars. The rates have not changed since before April 2003.
An average of 164,000 people were employed in restaurants and bars in 2003, the highest number in at least a decade. Since the smoking ban took effect last March 30, employment in bars and restaurants has risen by 10,600 jobs, taking into account seasonal fluctuations, according to the report.
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