Austria set to stub out smoking ban

Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) said Monday that a planned ban on smoking in all bars and restaurants due to come into force in mid-2018 will be scrapped.

FPOe chief Heinz-Christian Strache said that the reversal was agreed in ongoing talks to form a coalition with the conservative People's Party (OeVP) following elections in October.

"I am proud of this excellent solution in the interests of non-smokers, smokers and restaurant owners," Strache, who had made the move a key campaign pledge, said on social media.

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"The freedom to choose lives on. The existence of restaurants (particularly small ones) has been secured. Thousands of threatened jobs have been saved," said Strache, 48, himself a smoker.

Unlike in most of Europe, in Austria people can smoke in eateries under certain conditions -- which are widely flouted -- including that it is confined to separate rooms.

The outgoing government, a coalition of the OeVP and the Social Democrats, passed a law in 2015 banning smoking completely in bars and eateries, which was due to take effect next May.

The new government, which Strache and non-smoker OeVP head Sebastian Kurz, 31, want installed before Christmas, will however make some concessions, media reports said.

Under-18s will not be allowed in smoking rooms of bars and restaurants, smoking will be outlawed in cars if under-18s are inside, and the minimum age for smoking will rise from 16 to 18.