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1,500 Belgian pubs flouted smoking ban in 2013
According to the latest statistics, smoking habits continue to be very hard to break. Despite hefty fines for lighting up indoors, a quarter of the pubs inspected last year were found breaking the law on smoking.
About 1,500 watering holes broke the rules, resulting in fines of €160 for the smoker, and another €475 for the business operator. In all, 1,000 of the fines were handed to individuals caught with a cigarette in hand, an increase of 200 from 2012.
According to Belgium’s health ministry, the large number of smoking violations were discovered due to the more than 1,000 complaints lodged to the office. Complaints originated from both the general public, as well as other pub owners. The ministry says that the smell alone makes it easy to know an establishment has been breaking the rules, even if there is no smoking gun.
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Belgian government does the same thing with EU regulations. They make so much money ignoring EU regulations and collecting certain taxes they have no right to charge under EU law that they prefer to pay the relatively low fines and make a huge profit by flaunting the rules.
Many of us just don't go to pubs/ bars anymore (at least not in winter) because of the 'health fascists'. About one third of pubs have closed in the UK since the smoking ban was introduced ( I admit that there are other factors at play in this equation). We are supposed to live in liberal democracies driven by market forces. is the idea of having market-driven smoking and non-smoking bars too difficult to align with those principles?