France is preparing to clear the air in smoky restaurants and other public areas starting next year, the newspaper Le Figaro has reported.
The measure, which could be applied nationally from 1 January 2007, would bring France closer in line with Britain, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Sweden. "It's going to happen" for France, too, the country's health minister, Xavier Bertrand, told Wednesday's edition of Le Figaro.
The newspaper said the government was planning a decree announcing the new law, but would exempt casinos, nightclubs, and tobacco shops.
Prime minister Dominique de Villepin's office stressed, though, that "nothing is yet definitively decided". But it said "the timetable is known", pointing to a parliamentary report on the issue due to be submitted next month (September). "The government will announce its plan in the following month (October). The decree's application could take effect from 1 January 2007," the newspaper said.
France has long shed its image of a country overrun with smoky bars and cafés; successive government price rises have made packets of cigarettes among the most expensive in Europe.
Nevertheless, French cigarette consumption rose this year after four years of decline. About 30 per cent of the French population smokes, more than in any European countries except Greece. (pi)