France to ban smoking on beaches and close to schools

The French government said it would ban smoking on all the country's beaches, in public parks and forests, and near schools.

"From now on, no-smoking areas will be the norm," Health Minister Aurelien Rousseau told reporters at a presentation of the government's anti-smoking program.

He said there were already 7,200 tobacco-free areas in France but they had been mostly designated by local authorities, not the central government.

"We are now shifting the responsibility and establishing a principle which will become the rule," Rousseau said.

Taxes on cigarettes will be hiked, Rousseau also said, with a pack of 20, currently at around 11 euros (P668), rising to 12 euros (P729) by 2025 and 13 euros (P790) the following year.

The government was also planning to ban so-called "puffs," single-use disposable e-cigarettes that are particularly popular among young people, he said.

The government aims to create "the first tobacco-free generation by 2032," as President Emmanuel Macron had promised, Rousseau said. (AFP)