A smoking ban will apply in several public outdoor spaces in Belgium from the end of this year as part of a national effort to stop younger people from starting the habit.
Smoking tobacco remains a major public health risk in Belgium and is the cause of two deaths per hour in the country, or 15,000 deaths, per year. The costs associated with these amount to €11 billion a year, largely borne by taxpayers. To reduce these figures, the government is working to create a smoke-free generation by discouraging and denormalising smoking.
The "Generation Smoke-free" plan sets out to limit the sales revenue of tobacco companies' sales and banned smoking train stations, including on outdoor platforms. New to the rules is an expansion of the smoking ban: from 31 December, it will be illegal to smoke in playgrounds, sports grounds (including skate parks, sports fields, sports stadiums,...), amusement parks, zoos and petting zoos.
"We want to keep smoking out of children's sight as much as possible. Children should be confronted less and less with cigarettes," outgoing Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit) said. The ban does not apply at certain times, such as when a multi-day festival is organised on the grounds of a sports field.
Smoking will also be banned in a ten-metre radius around entrances of residential care centres, hospitals, childcare centres, schools (from primary to higher education and part-time art education academies) and public libraries.
Other changes
From 1 January 2025 Belgium will also ban disposable e-cigarettes, which are popular among young people. This makes Belgium the first EU Member State to do so. It also wants to limit the number of "flavours" available. A ban on temporary outlets for tobacco products (such as festivals) will also come into force.
From 1 April 2025, food shops larger than 400 square metres can no longer sell tobacco products while in authorised outlets tobacco products can no longer be visibly displayed.
The Public Health Ministry also plans to continue sending out student "mystery shoppers" to check the ban on the sale of tobacco and alcohol to minors, which is still regularly being violated.
Violations against the new rules will be punished with fines ranging between €208 and €8,000.
