The smoking ban in small cafes and bars and which have no staff is to be lifted and ‘in practice that means people can smoke in them again from today’, a health ministry spokesman told news website nu.nl.

The tobacco laws still have to be amended to exempt bars which are smaller than 70 m2. But in effect, the ban is over and all outstanding fines will be rescinded, the spokesman said.
The ban will continue in all restaurants, cafes with staff, discos and clubs and sports canteens.
Health minister Edith Schippers has outlined the plans, which were included in the coalition agreement, in a letter to parliament on Wednesday.