Lifting the Smokescreen; 10 reasons for a smoke free Europe. This report was commissioned in October 2004. At the time, Ireland had gone smoke free in March of that year, followed by Norway in June. On the other side of the world, New Zealand was due to follow suit in December 2004 and there were rumours from Italy and Malta that comprehensive smoke free legislation was being enacted and would come into force early in 2005. It seemed to the commissioning organisations that times were changing. Smoke free workplaces were no longer confined to the more liberal US states. Could it be possible that comprehensive smoke free legislation could become a reality, not just in small European countries with a strong background in tobacco control, but across the European Union (EU) itself? We decided to find out.