Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-24-Speech-3-268"
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"en.20071024.36.3-268"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, of course we all know that smoking is bad for our health. Nevertheless, I voted against the report on a smoke-free Europe as a matter of principle, for it is true to say that nowhere else has the state asserted itself quite so successfully as in the fight against smoking in public. Countries in the EU – and that includes us – are intervening on an unprecedented scale, with their smoking bans, in citizens’ private habits.
We are experiencing a state-sponsored prohibition policy across the board, designed to train people to change their behaviour. The report itself makes this clear. Unanimity – or, as we have it today – virtual unanimity is no guarantee of freedom. The opposite is true. In essence – and this is something we should recognise – freedom thrives on the opportunity to deviate from the norm. Concerned citizens are on the march, we have the nanny state, and all those who have anything to do with this and support it think that it has nothing to do with liberty. They are quite wrong!"@en1
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