September the 20th, 2024 – The United Kingdom has recently been putting its foot down even harder on smokers, with other European countries doing the same. Will Croatia ban smoking on cafe terraces? The European Commission piles on the pressure…
Smoking in general is gradually becoming a rarer sight now than it has ever been. Vaping is now almost as common, and the price of tobacco is constantly on the rise. What will that mean for a country that loves little more than sitting down for hours with a coffee and a cigarette?
That same country also has extremely high mortality from cardiovascular disease, a direct result of smoking that places an enormous burden on an already stretched healthcare system. Is it time for a cultural shift? For some it is, for others – it’s a real concern.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the European Commission recently sent out new guidelines to ban smoking in some of the remaining smoking “oases” such as bus stations, zoos and – the one which resonated the most – cafe terraces.
According to these guidelines, the ban would apply not only to cigarettes, but also to e-cigarettes and vaping. Admittedly, these are non-binding guidelines, but they open the possibility for EU Member States to incorporate them into their laws. Will Croatia ban smoking on cafe terraces as a result? The rules are getting more stringent, and it’s a real possibility.
Looking at the example of Croatia, the Law on Limiting the Use of Tobacco and Related Products is currently in force. In Article 25 of said law, it “prohibits the smoking of tobacco and related products, herbal products and the use of electronic cigarettes with or without nicotine filling and water pipes in all enclosed public spaces”.
In some cases, smoking and vapid continues to be allowed in some hospitality facilities, but as that same law says, in “special areas designated for smokers for the accommodation of guests in accordance with the regulations on the catering/hospitality industry, about which a smoking permit sign must be displayed in such areas”.
In simpler terms, Croatia’s hospitality establishments must have a special smoking area physically separated from the non-smoking area, according to N1.
Cafe culture is enormous in Croatia. In the UK, pub culture reigns strong, and the smoking ban there many years ago now caused a huge rift. That rift has now passed, but many British publicans still lament that the smoking ban was the reason for their slow decline. For many in Croatia, that cafe culture and coffee ritual includes a cigarette or two.
Will Croatia ban smoking on cafe terraces if it encourages even more people to give up incredibly harmful tobacco for good? It might just be swayed.
“I’m going to stop smoking. I won’t allow myself to be forced to stand in front of the terrace, out in the rain, just to light up. It’s going to be hard, but it’s time to quit. This probable decision to ban smoking outdoors, I’m convinced, will sway many hardened smokers to give up doing it anyway, it’s a terrible habit, and an expensive one at that,” Melita from Zagreb said.
Restaurant and cafe owners are concerned about the potential ban, and don’t welcome these new guidelines issued by the European Commission with enthusiasm.
“We’ve been suffering blow after blow for many years due to the highest tax burden on catering and hospitality services in the entire Mediterranean. We just don’t need this on top of all that. For many people in this industry, that would mean they’d put their keys in the lock permanently,” believes Franz Letica, president of the Association of Restaurateurs of Zagreb.
