Austria is tiring of its reputation as "the ashtray of Europe" -- at least according to the results of a nationwide
petition backing a ban on smoking in cafes and restaurants.
Austrian MPs on Thursday scrapped a smoking ban in bars and restaurants that was due to come into force in May, despite a petition in its favour collecting 545,000 signatures.
Austrian government MPs presented a bill on Wednesday which would continue to allow smoking in bars and restaurants, despite a huge groundswell of opposition.
A petition to ban smoking in Austria's bars and restaurants has collected 100,000 signatures in less than three days, meaning the issue will now have to be debated in parliament.
The Austrian doctors' association initiated on Friday a petition in favour of a smoking ban in bars and restaurants that would bring the country into line with most of the rest of Europe.
Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) said on Monday that a planned ban on smoking in all bars and restaurants due to come into force in mid-2018 will be scrapped.
A talented musician who plays with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra is worried about his future as a viola player after his left ring-finger was fractured in a vicious attack at a Vienna metro station.
6,500 cigarette machines may have to be removed from Austrian streets because they don’t comply with EU regulations, as they don’t carry warning messages or graphic images concerning the health effects of tobacco.
Austria’s Minister for Families, Sophie Karmasin, wants to ban smoking for young people under the age of 18. Currently, smoking is legal in Austria from the age of 16.
Austria’s highest court has ruled on a case about when a Vienna resident can smoke in his own home, which could have far-reaching effects for smokers, and non-smokers sick of smelling their neighbour’s cigarette smoke.
New information printed on cigarette packets in the EU to deter people from smoking appears to be working in Austria according to operators of a national stop smoking helpline.
An Austrian woman whose husband died from non-smoking relating problems is claiming the EU are using without permission a picture of him on his deathbed as an anti-smoking warning on cigarette packets.
A new tobacco law is being pushed through the Austrian parliament despite the fact that it contains a spelling mistake that might make implementing the law a bit difficult.
Austria is thirty years behind California when it comes to smoking culture, according to a researcher who described coming to Vienna like stepping back in “a time machine”.
A police officer who said he was forced to take early retirement due to poor health after being subjected to years of passive smoking at work has received just €7,400 in compensation.
Every third young person aged between 12 and 16-years-old in Lower Austria smokes regularly, according to latest research into young people's smoking habits.
Bar and restaurant owners as well as die-hard smokers are demonstrating in front of Austria’s parliament on Tuesday afternoon in protest against the general smoking ban which will come into force in May 2018.
Austria’s Economics Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner (ÖVP) has said that the new smoking ban for all restaurants and bars will be implemented by the summer - despite protests and petitions from bar and restaurant owners who feel their businesses will suffer.
