Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-23-Speech-2-369"
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"en.20071023.27.2-369"2
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"Mr President, the International Agency for Research on Cancer recently examined all available evidence on second-hand smoke and cancer. This was an independent panel of international scientists from 12 countries convened by the World Health Organisation. They concluded that second-hand smoke is carcinogenic and that exposure to other people’s smoke increases the risk of lung cancer in non-smokers by 25-30% – quite a staggering figure.
There is no doubt that people in the workplace and in enclosed public places have the right to be protected from other people’s smoke. Remember that the majority of the population are non-smokers. The best way to deal with this problem is by a comprehensive smoke-free regulation at Member State level, encompassing a ban in all enclosed public places and in workplaces.
I do not, therefore, agree with Amendment 3 by Mr Florenz asking for limited exceptions. Any exceptions must be kept to a minimum.
Nor do I agree with his Amendment 2, which deletes a proposal for amending the Framework Directive on workplace safety and health, requiring all employers to ensure a smoke-free workplace. Employers have a responsibility to protect workers’ health. Further, I would resist any suggestion that exemptions should be granted to pubs or bars not serving food. Not only is this harmful to employees, but it would also lead to health inequalities. For example, in the UK, non-food pubs accounted for half of all pubs in deprived areas, compared with a quarter in more affluent areas.
I also think that awareness-raising measures about the dangers of smoking are crucial. Bigger and bolder picture warnings are part of this awareness-raising and, therefore, I cannot support Amendment 6, which deletes paragraph 16, which refers to these pictures.
I think we would all agree that we must act to help prevent young people from smoking. The younger people are when they start smoking, the more difficult it is to stop in later life. Therefore, I would urge support for paragraph 4 of the report, which is aimed at cutting the number of young smokers by 50% by 2025 and rejection of Amendment 1 by Mr Florenz calling for the deletion of this paragraph.
Smoking causes enormous health problems within the population, both of smokers and non-smokers, and I know that some colleagues feel that the use of snus is a better alternative. However, I cannot support measures that may lead to the wider use of snus, because its use has its own health-related problems, including oral cancer. There is no value in trading one health hazard for another.
Finally, if we are serious about improving the health of our citizens, then we must encourage all Member States to introduce the necessary measures to make a smoke-free Europe a reality. Can I just suggest that we could make a great start by enforcing the ban here in our own Parliament buildings?"@en1
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