France’s Assurance Maladie pushes to ban smoking for young people
Health agency seeks to follow UK example in creating a ‘tobacco-free generation’
The idea is that France would gradually phase out tobacco consumption
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The French state health insurance system (Assurance Maladie) has backed the creation of a ‘tobacco-free generation’ by banning the sale of cigarettes to people born from 2009 onwards.
The proposal forms part of a wider prevention-focused initiative included in its annual ‘Charges et Produits pour 2027’ report.
The plan included in the proposition is that France would gradually phase out tobacco consumption among younger generations by making cigarettes permanently inaccessible to those born from that year onwards following the example of the UK.
“Like the United Kingdom which, in 2026, banned the sale of cigarettes to all people born from January 1, 2009,” it stated in its report.
It also added that France is among the countries with the highest smoking rates in Europe and argued that structural prevention policies are needed to reduce long-term health spending and chronic disease.
Assurance Maladie estimated that, without intervention, total health spending could reach €270 billion by 2030.
The report also made a renewed call to make Nutri-Score mandatory on all packaged foods as well as add warnings on ultra-processed foods. It believes that clearer nutritional information could help reduce the financial burden on the state from long-term illnesses associated with poor diet.
Assurance Maladie argues that prevention policies, including the two above, could deliver both health benefits and savings for the system, which is facing a projected deficit of €13.8 billion in 2026.
The report will be submitted to a vote by the National Health Insurance Fund board (Cnam) on July 9, a procedural step to formally adopt the report before it is transmitted to the government and parliament.
