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Germany Still Lighting Up

DW staff (sms)April 12, 2006

Smoking in Germany could become a little more difficult if Markos Kyprianou, the EU's commissioner for health and consumer protection, gets his way.

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Image: AP

Smoking in Germany could become a little more difficult if Markos Kyprianou, the EU's commissioner for health and consumer protection, gets his way.

He said he intended to take Berlin to court "as soon as possible" if Germany does not prohibit tobacco companies from sponsoring international cultural and sporting events and outlaw ads for tobacco products in print and on the Internet -- television commercials are already illegal.

"Advertising for tobacco products increases consumption," Kyprianou told the Berliner Zeitung. "Advertising and sponsoring glorify smoking. They create a mood in which cigarette consumption is seen as normal and acceptable."

Though Berlin has made small steps, including age controls on cigarette vending machines to curb youth smoking, Germany remains a nation of relatively keen smokers -- as visitors notice as soon as they walk though the cloud of smoke in the country's airports.

Read through the articles below to see what Germans have to say about the smoking debate.

Skip next section Reports & Analysis

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