Public places such as beaches, parks and gardens, areas near schools, bus stops and sports facilities will be tobacco-free starting July 1, the French health and family minister Catherine Vautrin said. 

“Where there are children, tobacco must disappear,” the minister told Ouest-France on Thursday, adding that the freedom to smoke “ends where children’s right to breathe fresh air begins.” The fine for smoking in such areas will reach €135. Smoking will still be allowed on café terraces and e-cigarettes are exempt from the new ban.

Some municipalities have already introduced local bans, but the new rules will apply nationwide from July.

No decision has been made on banning cigarette sales to people under 18, but Vautrin said she is “not ruling anything out for the future.” Asked about a possible tax hike on tobacco, Vautrin said that no new increases are planned for now. 

The authorized nicotine level and the number of flavors for e-cigarettes should be reduced by the end of the first half of 2026, the minister said, adding that for such measures she needs “scientific and technical opinions to establish the details.”

The move comes as part of the measures of the National Tobacco Control Program 2023-2027.

The French measures align with the European Commission’s Beating Cancer Plan, which aims to create a “tobacco-free generation” by 2040 — defined as having less than 5 percent of the population using tobacco.