France

Smoking in public is declining in France, albeit slowly. Legislation introduced in 1992 to ban tobacco advertising, restrict smoking in many public places, and create no-smoking areas in restaurants and cafes was at first scorned, largely ignored, and only exceptionally enforced.

Lawsuits, however, have managed to trigger a reduction in tobacco advertising, and symbolic court victories by antismoking groups suing railway stations and other public transport facilities have had some effect.

The ban on smoking in the Paris …