Smoking is to be partially banned in Dutch cafés, bars, restaurants and discotheques from July next year, the cabinet agreed on Friday. Smoking will still be permitted in separate, closed-off rooms without waitress service, health minister Ab Klink said after Friday’s cabinet meeting.

The hospitality industry had called for a phased ban, which had been agreed with the previous government. It said the current government was untrustworthy for going back on old agreements.
In so-called coffee shops where people can buy small quantities of cannabis, smoking will be banned in the area where soft drugs are sold.