Some Brussels cafes still defying ban on smoking indoors

Fourteen years after a ban on indoor smoking in bars and restaurants, almost one in 10 Brussels establishments still allows it, according to an investigation by Dutch-language media outlet Bruzz.

Belgium’s new federal government intends to expand the smoking ban to apply to outdoor terraces as well, but the indoor smoking ban is already not wholly enforced in the capital.

Journalists visited a number of bars and restaurants across Brussels for the investigation, but because they did not reveal themselves as reporters - in order to get more honest answers about compliance with smoking legislation - Bruzz declined to identify any of the establishments by name in the report.

They observed that cafes where illegal indoor smoking took place tended to serve a predominantly male clientele and the patrons were often of non-Belgian origin.

"Around 17.00, customers already start nagging the girl at the counter: ‘Can we please smoke?’ even though they know all too well that they have to wait until 20.00," one cafe manager in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode said when asked if smoking indoors is allowed.

At a cafe in Molenbeek that was noted to reek of nicotine, requests to smoke indoors were denied until closer to 23.00, when many patrons began openly smoking inside.

“During the day, there’s hardly any indoor smoking, but the later it gets, the more the rules are ignored,” said Paul Van den Meerssche, head of the federal inspectorate.

The inspectorate has been sending teams to detect violations of the smoking ban and issue fines since the ban came into effect on 1 July 2011.

Fines can range from €208 to as much as €8,000, with repeat offences and aggravating circumstances, such as the presence of minors, increasing the price.

A caught smoker does not always have to pay the fine, however, Van den Meerssche explained: “If everyone smokes unabashedly in full view of the owner, the business will be punished. But if one person secretly lights a cigarette in a corner, that person will of course pay the fine.”

But back in 2019, it came to light that the Brussels public prosecutor’s office dismisses more than 90% of unpaid smoking fines, which Van den Meerssche attributed to an overburdened judicial system.

The Saint-Josse-ten-Noode cafe owner said he had only ever been fined once over the years despite rampant smoking inside his establishment, and that he has no intention of enforcing the rules.

“People don't listen,” he told the undercover journalists. “And besides, my clientele is like a family, I don't want to take away their comfort. It's hard enough to keep a business running.”

Of the 2,290 Belgian catering establishments visited by the federal public health inspectorate in 2024, 9.2% were found to be in violation of the ban. The year before saw 7%, with no region or city-specific breakdown readily available.

Separate smoking rooms are still allowed in establishments as long as they do not take up more than a quarter of the business and are equipped with a good ventilation system.

This is mainly a problem for shisha bars, which don’t always have a separate room and “significantly increase the total number of offences, with more than 60% of the violations” according to Van den Meerssche.

“Smoking indoors also remains a problem in nightclubs because people have to make more of an effort to go outside. In regular cafes, with a few exceptions, the battle has been won.”

Journalists met several bar owners who did not want any smoking at all in their establishment but felt that they could not risk unhappy customers.

“When the smoking ban came into effect, managers invested in heated terraces and smoking areas," said Kamila Ostrowska, general director for Horeca Brussels.

"With the new legislation [banning smoking on terraces], that has proven to be for nothing. A ban on the terraces will keep customers away, or chase them to other places in the neighbourhood.

"More conflicts with local residents and financial hangovers are something we can all do without. The sector always dutifully complies with the legislation, but we hardly get anything in return."