A spokesman for Mr Kyprianou announced that he will on Tuesday offer for deliberation a contract which provides this prohibition. It is the start of a process that could use Ireland's ban on smoking in pubs, restaurants and other public places as a model for an EU-wide ban.
The commissioner took a favourable view of the public smoking bans in EU member countries such as Ireland, Sweden and Italy and will issue a green paper on "legal mechanisms and health promotion initiatives" in member countries and at the European level, the first step of a long legislative process. (pi)