WORKERS' HEALTH AND SAFETY : EMPLOYERS OPPOSE EU-WIDE ANTI-SMOKING LEGISLATION.

• Position: Brief article

Rather than EU-level laws against smoking in the workplace, the employers' lobby BusinessEurope would prefer "non-binding initiatives". It believes that the problem is "largely a societal issue" that "should be dealt with at national level". "The diversity of measures across member states shows the need for tailoring to existing national arrangements and cultures," it says.

The European Commission declared its intention, in October 2008, to introduce a comprehensive EU-wide ban on smoking in all workplaces in October 2008. It therefore launched a consultation of the social partners, on 10 December 2008, in order to hear their opinion on such a ban. The consultation came in the wake of a 2007 green paper Towards a Europe free from tobacco smoke' and an own-initiative report from the European Parliament.

BusinessEurope does not agree with the Commission's approach: "The narrow focus on the workplace level cannot truly tackle the core of the problem of exposure to environmental tobacco...