Franse dreiging rookverbod verdwenen
Een prettig gevolg van de de massale protesten van de afgelopen tijd is dat de Franse regering blijkbaar bang is geworden om nog maatregelen in te voeren die tegen de wensen van de bevolking ingaan. Blijkbaar beschouwt de Franse regering ook rokers nog als mensen want ze heeft haar plannen om in de Franse horeca rookverboden in te voeren (voorlopig?) laten varen.
Rokers kunnen weer opgelucht ademhalen in Frankrijk en we hoeven het land dus nog niet op onze lijst van af te raden vakantiebestemmingen op te nemen.
The government, weakened by a battle with unions and students over a controversial youth jobs contract, backed away from a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants this week to avoid a confrontation with France’s many smokers and tobacconists.
The image of Parisian cafes filled with smoke from pungent Gauloise cigarettes has changed since Socialists forced hostelries to clean up their act in the 1990s, but the idea of a total ban in public places is still a source of controversy.
“Sell Out!” fumed anti-smoking campaigners who accused the government of sacrificing the health of millions.
But smokers, taxed to their filter tips in recent years, quietly puffed their approval after what they saw as a surprise last-minute reprieve.
“I love my daily coffee and cigarette,” said Louisa Bunz, 47, as she smoked in a central Paris bar.
The idea of making restaurants tobacco-free and forcing smokers into hermetic, ventilated phone box-style cabins without drinks and food was ridiculous, she said.
“It would be like a little smokers’ prison cell,” she said.
