New rules aim to shield children from secondhand smoke in parks, beaches, school zones and more.
Starting July 1, smoking will be prohibited in all outdoor spaces frequented by children across France, Health and Family Minister Catherine Vautrin announced. The new rules cover beaches, parks, public gardens, areas near schools, bus stops and sports venues.
“Tobacco must disappear from places where there are children,” Vautrin told Ouest-France newspaper. She emphasized that “the freedom to smoke ends where children’s right to breathe clean air begins.”
However, terraces of bars and cafés will remain exempt. Violators will face a €135 fine, according to the BBC. While enforcement will be handled by police, Vautrin expressed confidence that much of the compliance will come through self-regulation by citizens.
Electronic cigarettes are not included in this ban, but the minister said the government is working on new rules to limit nicotine content in such devices.
Currently, 23.1% of the French population smokes daily, the lowest rate on record, according to the French Observatory for Drugs and Drug Addiction. This marks a decline of more than five percentage points since 2014, the BBC reported. Despite this trend, the National Committee Against Smoking warns that tobacco remains responsible for more than 75,000 deaths annually in France, accounting for 13% of total national mortality.
Since 2008, smoking has been banned indoors in bars, restaurants and nightclubs. While the government had announced plans for new outdoor restrictions in 2024, the related decree was never enacted. Nonetheless, over 1,500 municipalities have independently adopted similar measures, and many French beaches have been designated smoke-free for years.
A recent study by La Ligue Contre le Cancer shows that nearly 80% of French citizens support bans on smoking in public spaces such as forests, beaches, parks and terraces, signaling broad social backing for the new measures.
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