Towards a tobacco-free generation in France: a ban for those born after 2013

Is France heading towards a permanent ban on tobacco for future generations? The government has set itself the goal of building “the first tobacco-free generation” by 2032. In that context, in early November 2025 the Green MP Nicolas Thierry announced that he had tabled a cross-party bill to ban the sale of tobacco to everyone born after 2013 (that is, born on or after 1 January 2014). The plan revives the idea of a “generational ban” written into the national tobacco control programme for 2023-2027, presented by the health minister Aurélien Rousseau, which explicitly aims to achieve that “first tobacco-free generation” by 2032.

The government’s reasons

The authorities invoke public health above all to justify the move. Tobacco is “the leading cause of avoidable death” in France, responsible for cancers and cardiovascular disease, and it costs around 75,000 lives a year (156 billion euros in social costs). Protecting young people is another essential driver. The authorities note that one young smoker in four continues to smoke, and fear people taking up smoking too early. As Nicolas Thierry puts it, “the aim is very clear: to stop young people taking up smoking by no longer giving them access to the product”. The plan is also in line with the European Union’s ambition to bring smoking prevalence below 5% by 2040 (in practice, the emergence of a tobacco-free generation).

What it would mean in practice

If adopted, the ban would be permanent for the generations concerned. In concrete terms, from 1 January 2032 the sale of any tobacco product (cigarettes, cigars, rolling tobacco, including heated tobacco) would be illegal for anyone born after 1 January 2014, even once they are of age. In other words, someone born in 2015 who is 30 or 40 in 2045 could never legally buy tobacco. The measure is deliberately “progressive” but would apply “permanently” to those target generations. It is often described as a “generational and progressive ban”, since only the date of birth determines future access to tobacco, regardless of the person’s actual age.

Reactions and positions taken

The plan has drawn mixed reactions. Among anti-tobacco associations, the Alliance contre le tabac (ACT) and the Ligue contre le cancer welcomed the initiative, arguing for “drastic” measures to “protect future generations”. Politically, some twenty MPs from seven groups (from La France insoumise to Horizons) already support the proposal. Nicolas Thierry hopes the government will back the text and that it can be put on the parliamentary agenda during the next slot set aside for cross-party bills. The office of the health minister (Stéphanie Rist) has already indicated that this was “a shared aim: to protect young people and reduce smoking lastingly”, while pointing out that “no new measure will be able to bypass the legal and European frameworks”. Tobacconists, for their part, warn about the parallel market: Serdar Kaya, president of the tobacconists’ confederation, notes that “given the scale of the parallel market (17.7% of tobacco escaping the legal circuit)”, we are in practice heading “towards a generation without tobacco bought from a tobacconist”.

International comparisons

Several countries have already considered or adopted measures of this kind. New Zealand was a pioneer, adopting a law in 2022 banning for life the sale of tobacco to people born from 2009 onwards, but that law was finally repealed in November 2023 before it took effect. In the Maldives, a decree that came into force on 1 November 2025 now makes it illegal for anyone born on or after 1 January 2007 to buy or use tobacco, making the Maldives the first country actually to apply such a generational ban. The United Kingdom is examining a similar plan: a bill to ban permanently the sale of cigarettes to generations born after 2009 is currently before the British Parliament.

Next steps

The bill must now be examined by the National Assembly. Mr Thierry hopes it will be placed on the agenda of a cross-party parliamentary session as soon as possible. If the text is examined, it will go through committee and debate in the chamber before any vote. No precise timetable has yet been announced: the government will first have to decide whether to support the measure, and the future text will have to be checked for compliance with European law. In any event, creating a “tobacco-free generation” remains the stated aim, and the coming debates will determine whether or not France follows the example of its neighbours.

Sources: sante.gouv.fr, AFP dispatch of 4 November 2025, sudradio.fr, TF1 Info and Le Dauphiné Libéré