PRAGUE – The Czech Republic, the last European Union member still to allow unrestricted smoking in restaurants, is preparing to outlaw the practice, the health minister said.
Support for the ban is rising in the country of 10.5 million people, where restaurants aren't required to separate smokers from nonsmokers, Health Minister Svatopluk Nemecek said.
A bill drafted by his ministry may be debated in parliament as early as April.
"Czech society is definitely more ready than at any other time before," said Nemecek, who took over the ministry in 2014. "I believe the political situation is also favorable."
The bill seeks to outlaw smoking in restaurants as well as at concert halls, dance clubs and other public places. In its current form, the proposed legislation would also ban electronic and herbal cigarettes, increase penalties for serving alcohol to minors and oblige restaurants and bars to offer at least one nonalcoholic drink cheaper than beer.
The Health Ministry will submit the draft law to the legislature as early as next week. A restaurant owner caught breaking the ban could be fined almost $2,000.
Opponents of the bill, including members of the ruling coalition party, argue that the proposed ban is too harsh. An alternative version would bar smoking tobacco only in restaurants and bars.
More than 80 percent of Czechs want the state to tighten smoking regulations, according to a survey last year.
