Non-smoking laws are typical Austrian non-solution

According to a recent survey 50 percent of Austrians are not happy with the non-smoking laws in their country. The left-liberal daily Der Standard criticises Austria's rules: "The 'Austrian solution' is as usual no solution. Anyone who thinks consumers are happy should pay a visit to a restaurant or pub - particularly those in rural areas - or any ski hut for that matter. The division into smoking and non-smoking areas is dealt with according to the following motto: where there are no complaints let there be no judges. … The inspectors are few and far between - some provinces don't even bother assigning any of their own - and this makes landlords more lenient. While other countries have taken a unequivocal path on non-smoking here we've done it the Austrian way: a little bit of law, taken half seriously and half ignored. … Until the big bad EU turns up and spoils all the fun again with a clear regulation. But at least then we can all join in the chorus of complaints against 'those in Brussels'."

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