Paris, May 30, 2025 — Smoking will be banned in a wide range of outdoor public spaces across France from July 1, in a sweeping new measure aimed at protecting children from second-hand smoke, Health and Family Minister Catherine Vautrin announced this week.
The ban will apply to all outdoor areas where children are likely to be present, including public parks, gardens, beaches, playgrounds, bus stops, the vicinity of schools, and sports venues. The only major exception will be the outdoor seating areas of cafés and bars, known in France as terrasses, which will remain exempt.
“Tobacco must disappear where there are children,” Vautrin said in an interview published by Ouest-France. “The freedom to smoke must end where the freedom of children to breathe fresh air begins.”
Those caught violating the new regulations will face a €135 fine, equivalent to £113 or $153. Vautrin noted that enforcement will be handled by regular police officers, but she also expressed confidence in the role of public pressure and “self-regulation” to ensure compliance.
While traditional tobacco products are targeted by the new rules, electronic cigarettes remain exempt. However, the minister signaled that this may soon change. “I am working on introducing limits on the nicotine content in e-cigarettes,” she said, in what appears to be a broader governmental push against nicotine addiction.
The decision comes amid a significant decline in smoking rates across France. According to the French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, just 23.1% of the French population now smokes daily—the lowest level ever recorded in the country, and a drop of more than five percentage points since 2014.
Despite this downward trend, tobacco remains a leading cause of preventable death in France. The National Committee Against Smoking reports that over 75,000 people die from tobacco-related illnesses each year, accounting for 13% of all deaths in the country.
France had previously banned smoking in enclosed public spaces such as restaurants, bars, and nightclubs back in 2008. The current initiative to extend the prohibition to outdoor areas marks the most comprehensive anti-smoking measure since then.
Although a nationwide ban on smoking in parks and beaches was initially proposed for 2024, the necessary legal decree was never adopted. Nonetheless, the groundwork had already been laid by over 1,500 municipalities that voluntarily introduced local bans on smoking in outdoor public spaces. Several hundred beaches in France have also been declared non-smoking zones for years.
Public support for the measure appears strong. A recent report by the French cancer association La Ligue Contre le Cancer found that nearly 80% of the population supports a ban on smoking in shared outdoor environments such as forests, parks, beaches, and even café terraces.
With this new law, France joins a growing list of countries implementing more stringent anti-smoking measures in public spaces to curb tobacco use and protect vulnerable groups, especially children, from its harmful effects.
