The EU's Health Commissioner has said he would like to see tougher restrictions on smoking across Europe, but also confessed he lacked the powers to introduce them.
Cypriot Commissioner Marcos Kyprianou said he "completely backed" bans on smoking in all enclosed public places as enforced in Ireland and Italy, according to Agence France Presse.
Speaking to journalists during a visit to Cyprus on Friday (4 February), Mr Kyprianou suggested that it was "a question of protecting the non-smokers whom, however strange it may seem, make up a very large majority in the member states".
However, the Commissioner admitted that he could only encourage, not impose such legislation.
And he revealed that he had encouraged the Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos and Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker to set an example by giving up smoking themselves.
Gloomy statistics
Tobacco currently accounts for over a half a million deaths in the EU - the single largest cause of avoidable death - according to the European Commission.
It is estimated that 25 percent of all cancer deaths and 15 percent of all deaths in the EU can be attributed to smoking.
While Brussels is obliged to provide information and promote health and disease prevention projects across Europe, it is up to public authorities in the individual member states to introduce the appropriate measures within their national health systems.
Ireland and Italy are the only two countries in the EU that introduced an outright ban on smoking in all public places. Other member states have so far opted for limited restrictions, while tougher measures are expected in some, like in the UK.
By: N. Peter Kramer
