Smoking will be illegal in French cafes, bars and restaurants from January 2008 under the measures announced by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.
Unveiling a general prohibition on smoking in public areas from next February, the prime minister told local radio that a reprieve of
11 months will be permitted to establishments that "traditionally welcome smokers".
"It will be on January 1, 2008 that in bars, restaurants and discotheques the measure will come into effect."
Smoking will only be permitted in establishments that build hermetically-sealed "fumoirs", or smoking-rooms, to which serving staff will not be permitted access, he said.
The Union of Hospitality Trades (UMIH) has said that fewer than three per cent of restaurants and bars can afford the investment.
European trend
The move follows similar bans introduced in Ireland, Italy and
Scotland triggered by changing public attitudes to smoking and growing acceptance of the risks of passive smoking.
Mr Villepin said 5,000 French people die every year from breathing other people's fumes.
Individuals who break the prohibition will be made to pay 75 euros ($A128), a fine which rises to 150 euros ($A256) for those responsible for establishments where it is not applied.
"A major enforcement effort will be mobilised," the prime minister said.
France's existing anti-tobacco legislation makes it obligatory to set up separate smoking areas in public places, but it has never been properly enforced in cafes and restaurants.
Mr Villepin's announcement followed the recommendation last week of a parliamentary committee, which noted that 70 per cent of the public supports an effective ban on public smoking.
Angry reaction
Many bar and restaurant owners reacted angrily to the proposal, saying they face major financial losses.
"You have no idea how many customers I have here from Britain and the US who say to me how glad they are that at least one country hasn't succumbed to political correctness," said Laurent
Lefevre, owner of Au Metro bar in the 14th district of Paris.
"In a few months from now all my customers are going to be standing out on the street, which means in winter they won't come.
What's going to be banned next? Sex?"
"Protecting the public is a laudable aim," said Alain Dutournier, chef at the Michelin-starred Carr des Feuillants restaurant in Paris.
"But smoking a cigarette or cigar after a meal is a comfort and pleasure which is part of the art of living."
But others said that society had moved on. The Groupe Flo chain of popular eateries recently banned smoking in some establishments and says there has been no effect on business.
The government has promised financial help to tobacconists -- many of them also bar and cafe owners -- who are already suffering from a downturn in sales caused by a 40 percent cigarette price hike in the last three years.
According to government figures 30 per cent of adults use tobacco, and 66,000 die of illnesses caused by smoking every year.
Mr Villepin said that in northern Italy the number of under 60-year-olds suffering from cardiovascular illnesses fell by 10 percent in the five months following last year's smoking ban.
"We expect a very rapid improvement in public health," he said.