Popular initiative "Don't smoke"

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The referendum “Don't smoke” was a referendum by the Vienna Medical Association and the Austrian Cancer Aid for the protection of non-smokers in Austria . It called for the retention of 2015 by the then Federal Government adopted amendment for the general ban on smoking in restaurants after the federal government short I had undone.

With 881,569 signatures it took 6th place in the list of Austrian referendums .

prehistory

The protection of non-smokers has been anchored in Austria since 1995 ( SPÖ-ÖVP coalition under Vranitzky ) in the Tobacco and Non-Smoking Protection Act (TNRSG, originally tobacco law ).

In 2003 Austria signed the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC - Framework Convention on Tobacco Control) as one of 180 signatory states and ratified it in 2005.

In 2009 the EU recommended implementation by 2013: only Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia refused to support this recommendation.

As of January 1, 2009, the SPÖ-ÖVP coalition under Faymann introduced tightening legislation to protect non-smokers in restaurants ( § 13a and others TNRSG). Smoking was forbidden, but could be allowed in single-room establishments under 50 m² or in larger restaurants via separate smoking areas. Until June 30, 2010, transitional regulations had applied. The law was controversially discussed, on the one hand it was feared that the inns would die out, and on the other hand the legal regulation was dismissed as inadequate. In addition, there was great confusion and, in some cases, resentment among the restaurant operators as to the extent to which the exceptions were limited in time and which renovation investments had to be made. Still under Faymann , the 2015 law was amended to the effect that from May 2018 all catering establishments without exception must guarantee freedom from smoking (Section 12 (1) (4) TNRSG instead of Section 13a, among others). This was due, among other things, to an initiative of the late journalist Kurt Kuch , who publicly discussed his fight against lung cancer .

A referendum on the topic of smoking bans had already been called for several times beforehand , for example by MP Dagmar Belakowitsch in 2010. In the coalition agreement of the ÖVP-FPÖ Federal Government Brief I, a repeal of the complete smoking ban in restaurants was agreed, which was passed in the National Council in mid-March 2018. Even before the decision was made, the Vienna Medical Association and Austrian Cancer Aid launched the “Don't smoke” popular initiative in mid-February. As an expert nominated by the FPÖ, Barbara Kolm , among others, was invited to the Parliament's Health Committee in March 2018.

Advancement

For reasons of optimal health protection for all Austrians, the initiators are calling for a federal constitutional regulation for the maintenance of the 2015 amendment to the Non-Smoking Protection Act (Tobacco Act). A referendum should be held about this.

According to this amendment, which would have come into force from May 2018, all restaurants in Austria should have guaranteed smoke-free.

procedure

From February 15, 2018, signatures were collected for the implementation of a referendum (support). If at least one per thousand of the Austrian population supports an implementation, an entry week is set for the official referendum (signature), whereby signatures made for support count towards the referendum and do not have to be made again. If a total of at least 100,000 signatures are obtained during the support phase and the referendum, the issue must be dealt with in parliament. This goal was already achieved on the third day of the support phase, in which the submission reached 591,146 signatures.

The registration week for the official referendum was set by the Federal Ministry of the Interior from October 1 to October 8, 2018.

On the evening of October 8, 2018, the Federal Ministry of the Interior published the preliminary result on its website, according to which the referendum had reached 290,293 entries in addition to the declarations of support. With a total of 881,569 signatures, the referendum narrowly missed the hurdle of 900,000 votes that the Federal Government Brief I announced as a limit for mandatory referendums for referendums for 2021. In 2011, the later Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache of the Federal Government Kurz I advocated a binding referendum with 150,000 or more signatures. In 2012 and in the 2017 election campaign, the later Chancellor Sebastian Kurz called for a mandatory referendum to be held if ten percent of those eligible to vote (around 640,000 people) sign a referendum.

Technical problems

The referendum was processed via the central voter register introduced in January 2018 , which is made up of the central civil status , citizenship and residents register. This proved to be unable to cope with the large onslaught, also because the declarations of support for three petitions had to be processed at the same time. In some cases, therefore, queues formed in the offices.

Treatment in the National Council

The referendum was discussed in the first reading on December 11, 2018 in the National Council, and the parliamentary groups expressed their position. The initiative was assigned to the National Council's Health Committee, which had five months to deal with the matter.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b popular initiative - all popular initiatives of the second republic. In: bmi.gv.at. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018 ; accessed on January 28, 2019 .
  2. Federal law on the manufacture and marketing of tobacco products and related products as well as the advertising of tobacco products and related products and the protection of non-smokers (Tobacco and Non-Smoking Protection Act - TNRSG). Original version of the Federal Act on the Manufacturing and Marketing of Tobacco Products and Advertising for Tobacco Products and the Protection of Non-Smokers (Tobacco Act). BGBl. No. 431/1995 (pdf, ris.bka ).
  3. WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. In: Sozialministerium.at. Retrieved February 1, 2019 .
  4. Renate Burger, Keyvan Davani: Black Book Cigarette - Smoking endangers your consciousness . 2nd, revised edition. 2017, ISBN 978-3-9504482-0-7 , pp. 250 ( [1] [PDF; 768 kB ; accessed on February 10, 2019]).
  5. According to Art I, in particular line 18 of the Federal Act, which amends the Tobacco Act, the General Social Insurance Act, the Commercial Social Insurance Act and the Farmers Social Insurance Act. BGBl. I No. 120/2008 (online, ris.bka).
  6. ^ Stefan Schlögl: Smoking ban in Austria. The nicotine war. In: time online. April 14, 2010, accessed March 9, 2016 .
  7. ^ According to Art I Z. 2. – 11. Federal law amending the federal law on the manufacture and marketing of tobacco products and the advertising of tobacco products and the protection of non-smokers (Tobacco Act), the 1988 Income Tax Act, the 1988 Corporate Income Tax Act, the 1993 Labor Inspection Act and the Federal Employee Protection Act. BGBl. I No. 101/2015 (online, ris.bka).
  8. I am fighting cancer. Interview with Kurt Kuch. In: news.at. November 6, 2014, accessed February 22, 2018 .
  9. "News" -Aufdecker Kurt Kuch died of lung cancer. In: derstandard.at. January 4, 2015, accessed February 22, 2018 .
  10. ^ FPÖ-Belakowitsch-Jenewein: Smoking ban - popular vote required . OTS notification dated July 5, 2010, accessed February 19, 2018.
  11. Resolve the smoking ban. In: profil.at. March 22, 2018, accessed October 9, 2018 .
  12. Smoking ban referendum with high participation on the first day. In: sn.at. February 15, 2018, accessed October 9, 2018 .
  13. Kleine Zeitung: Smoking ban: FPÖ "Expert" took money from the tobacco industry . Article dated April 6, 2019, accessed April 7, 2019.
  14. Profile: Barbara Kolms Austrian Economics Center received "five-figure amount" from tobacco companies . Article dated April 6, 2019, accessed April 7, 2019.
  15. ↑ Popular initiative - Don't smoke. In: bmi.gv.at. Retrieved October 4, 2018 .
  16. Federal law on the manufacture and marketing of tobacco products and related products as well as the advertising of tobacco products and related products and the protection of non-smokers (Tobacco and Non-Smoker Protection Act - TNRSG) Federal Law Gazette No. 431/1995 in the version of February 2018
  17. Process of a referendum - overview. In: oesterreich.gv.at. Retrieved April 9, 2019 .
  18. Around 174,000 signatures for “Don't smoke” referendum. In: diepresse.at. February 19, 2018, accessed April 24, 2018 .
  19. 591,146 signatures submitted for "Don't smoke". In: derstandard.at. April 4, 2018, accessed October 4, 2018 .
  20. ^ FPÖ: Strache: Anchoring direct democracy based on the Swiss model in the constitution! . OTS news from November 24, 2011, accessed on October 13, 2018.
  21. diepresse.com: ÖVP-FPÖ: Short for mandatory referendums . Article from January 7, 2012, accessed on October 13, 2018.
  22. Sebastian Kurz: Allow more direct democracy . Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  23. "Server problems fall short". In: orf.at. February 20, 2018, accessed March 13, 2018 .
  24. Debate on the referendum for a general ban on smoking in restaurants in the Nationalrat parlament.gv.at, December 11, 2018, accessed January 26, 2019.
  25. Parliament takes deliberations on referendums on parlament.gv.at, 2018, accessed January 26, 2019.
  26. ^ National Council: “Don't Smoke” referendum shelved. In: orf.at . March 27, 2019, accessed on January 6, 2020.