Graham Brady (Shadow Minister (Europe), Foreign Affairs; Altrincham & Sale West, Conservative)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the treaty base is of EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou's proposal for an EU-wide ban on smoking in public places.

Caroline Flint (Minister of State (Public Health), Department of Health; Don Valley, Labour)

The European Commission published a Green Paper entitled "Towards a Europe free from tobacco smoke: policy options at EU level" on 30 January 2007. Among other issues, the Green Paper discusses the actions that could be taken at a European-level to tackle the issue of second-hand smoke in Europe. Five different policy options are identified, one of which is binding European legislation. The document explains on page 19:

"The exact legal basis of the legislation could only be determined once the exact nature and scope of the instrument will be defined and this choice will have to take into account the results of this public consultation"

The Green Paper is available on the European Commission's website at:

ec.europa.eu/health/ph_determinants/life_style/Tobacco/Documents/gp_smoke_en.pdf

England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be introducing comprehensive smokefree legislation in 2007—this will mean the United Kingdom population will be protected by smokefree legislation from this summer. The Government welcome the publication of the Green Paper as an opportunity for all interested groups to contribute to thinking at an European-level on smokefree public places and workplaces.