Austria to drop impending smoking ban in bars

Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPO) led by Sebastian Kurz (pictured) said a planned ban on smoking in all bars and restaurants due to come into force in mid-2018 will be scrapped

Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPO) said a planned ban on smoking in all bars and restaurants due to come into force in mid-2018 will be scrapped.

While much of the West has barred smoking in restaurants and bars, Austria’s impending ban is set to be stubbed out.

Austria passed a law banning smoking in bars and restaurants as of May 2018. 

But that will now be overturned under a deal between the conservative People’s Party (OVP) led by Sebastian Kurz and the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) reached during their ongoing negotiations on a governing coalition, according to a person familiar with their discussions.

The small, affluent country is famed for its Alpine scenery and its capital, Vienna, is regularly rated as the world’s best city to live in. 

But many visitors are surprised to find that nights out often feature the acrid smell of decades past. 

Scrapping the impending ban was an idea championed by FPO leader Heinz-Christian Strache, 48, who has repeatedly tried, in vain, to quit smoking. 

He said the reversal was agreed in ongoing talks to form a coalition with the conservative People’s Party (OeVP) following elections in October.

Scrapping the impending ban was an idea championed by FPO leader Heinz-Christian Strache (pictured), 48, who has repeatedly tried, in vain, to quit smoking

Scrapping the impending ban was an idea championed by FPO leader Heinz-Christian Strache (pictured), 48, who has repeatedly tried, in vain, to quit smoking

Strache said: ‘I am proud of this excellent solution in the interests of non-smokers, smokers and restaurant owners.

‘The freedom to choose lives on. The existence of restaurants (particularly small ones) has been secured. 

‘Thousands of threatened jobs have been saved.’

Unlike in most of Europe, in Austria people can smoke in eateries under certain conditions – which are widely flouted – including that it is confined to separate rooms.

The outgoing government, a coalition of the OeVP and the Social Democrats, passed a law in 2015 banning smoking completely in bars and eateries, which was due to take effect next May.

The outgoing government, a coalition of the OeVP and the Social Democrats, passed a law in 2015 banning smoking completely in bars and eateries, which was due to take effect next May

The outgoing government, a coalition of the OeVP and the Social Democrats, passed a law in 2015 banning smoking completely in bars and eateries, which was due to take effect next May

The new government, which Strache and non-smoker OeVP head Sebastian Kurz, 31, want installed before Christmas, will however make some concessions, media reports said.

Under-18s will not be allowed in smoking rooms of bars and restaurants, smoking will be outlawed in cars if under-18s are inside, and the minimum age for smoking will rise from 16 to 18. 

Kurz, who is just 31, has never acquired the habit and even shuns coffee, a rare abstinence in a country with a celebrated cafe culture.

Smoking was not a major issue in the election, in which Kurz made a hard line on immigration his theme. 

But some restaurant owners pushed for the planned ban to be dropped, supported by Strache, who has said they should be free to choose whether they allow customers to smoke.

Health Minister Pamela Rendi-Wagner of the Social Democrats, who plans to go into opposition once a coalition deal is reached, said: ‘Overturning the total ban on smoking in the restaurant industry is an enormous step backwards on health policy,’ said

‘This shows that people’s health is of no importance to black-blue,’ she said in a statement, referring to the OVP and FPO by their traditional colours.

While both sides have yet to clinch a coalition agreement in talks that began soon after Kurz’s party won an October 15 parliamentary election, a deal before Christmas is likely, people familiar with the negotiations say.



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