Anti-smoking group Clean Air Nederland is taking the Dutch state to court on Friday in an effort to enforce a ban on smoking in all bars and cafes.

One of the first acts of the current government in 2010 was to relax the ban so that bars smaller than 70m2 with no staff did not have to comply.
However, the ban, brought in four years ago, is widely flouted in bigger bars, cafes and night clubs.
Clean Air Nederland argues the current situation has led to unfair competition with bars which do keep the law. In addition, ‘the state is breaking international agreements to discourage smoking’ and undermining existing Dutch laws, the organisation says.