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Bus shelters and areas in the immediate vicinity of libraries, swimming pools and schools will also be affected by the ban, which is coming into force one day after its publication in the official Government gazette on Saturday (local time).

The rule is being imposed one week before the beginning of the school holidays in France in a clear bid to immediately protect children from smoke on the beach.

However, to the disappointment of some anti-tobacco activists, the ban does not cover the terraces of bars and restaurants, where many French still happily light up.

They are also unhappy that the ban does not apply to electronic cigarettes.

The rules had initially been expected to come into force on Tuesday (local time) after a previous announcement by the Health Ministry but the publication in the official gazette means this has now been brought forward to Sunday.

People should also not smoke within a 10m radius of schools, swimming pools, libraries and other places that hurt minors.

The Health Ministry said it would announce the minimum distance for smoking in these areas in the coming days as well as reveal the sign used to designate such areas.

Violators of the ban could face a fine of €135 ($160) up to a maximum of €700. However, the Health Ministry is expecting an initial grace period as the new rules are explained.

“Tobacco must disappear from places where there are children. A park, a beach, a school – these are places to play, learn, and breathe. Not for smoking,” Health and Family Minister Catherine Vautrin said.

This is another step “towards a tobacco-free generation”, she added, which France is targeting from 2032.

‘It must be clear’

The ban “is a step in the right direction, but remains insufficient”, Yves Martinet, the president of the National Committee Against Smoking (CNCT), said, criticising the continued permission to smoke on cafe terraces.

“The minister points to the protection of children,” but children “also go to the terraces,” Martinet, a pulmonologist, said.

He lamented the absence of e-cigarettes from the text, saying flavours are used to “hook young people”.

“For a measure to be effective, it must be clear – no consumption of products containing tobacco or nicotine in public,” Martinet said.

But Frank Delvau, president of the Union of Hotel Trades and Industries (UMIH) for the Paris region, said a ban on smoking on cafe terraces “would only shift the problem because people on terraces would go smoke next to these establishments”.

“Smokers and non-smokers can coexist” on terraces, the “last places of conviviality and freedom”, said Franck Trouet, of hospitality association Hotels and Restaurants of France (GHR).

In France, passive exposure to tobacco smoke causes 3000 to 5000 deaths per year, according to official figures.

Smoking is steadily declining in France with “the lowest prevalence ever recorded since 2000”, according to France’s addiction agency, the OFDT.

Less than a quarter of adults aged 18 to 75 reported smoking daily in 2023, according to the agency. Smoking causes 75,000 deaths per year in France and, again according to the OFDT, costs society €156 billion annually, counting factors including lost lives, quality of life, productivity, prevention, law enforcement and healthcare.

According to a recent opinion survey, 62% of French people favour a smoking ban in public places.

– Agence France-Presse