European Court Weighs Dutch Cannabis Ban for Foreigners
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,693161,00.html
By Paul van der Steen in Luxembourg
05/05/2010
The Dutch government wants to ban cannabis sales to foreigners, but
coffee shops in Holland argue that it's a violation of EU free-trade
regulations. The European Court of Justice will now decide.
The continuing struggle of Dutch border towns against drug tourism
could soon take a new turn, as the European Court of Justice (ECJ)
prepares to hand down a ruling regarding one of the most severe
measures employed in this battle so far.
Last Thursday, the ECJ heard arguments in Josemans v. Maastricht. The
case dates to 2006, when authorities found two foreign nationals on
the premises of Easy Going, a coffee shop that sells cannabis.
Maastricht is the largest city in the far south of the Netherlands;
it sits directly on the Belgian border and is only a 30 minute drive
from Germany. The Easy Going coffee shop there is owned by Marc
Josemans, who is also the chairman of a branch association to which
the city's coffee shop owners belong.
Free Market for Drugs?
Law enforcement officers found the two foreigners shortly after a
municipal regulation had gone into effect prohibiting the presence of
foreigners in coffee shops. It remains the only time the city has
enforced the new law as the municipality awaits the outcome of the
ECJ case. In the Netherlands, the case has made its way up to the
Council of State, the highest Dutch court ruling on such matters.
Before the European Court gives a ruling, the council has asked it
whether distinguishing between local and foreign cannabis customers
isn't at odds with the underlying principles of the European Union's
internal market.
In a weird legal twist, the case has led to a clash between the EU's
laws governing free trade among member states and Holland's soft-drug
policy. For decades, the Netherlands has had a unique policy
governing soft drugs, effectively decriminalizing -- though not
legalizing -- the use of cannabis. The sale of soft drugs through
coffee shops is strictly regulated: Advertising is not allowed, for
example; nor is selling to underage customers.
On the other hand, the European Union guarantees a free, unified
market of goods and services among its members. Whether this should
apply to the semi-legal parts of the Netherlands' cannabis industry
is the question now up for debate.
André Beckers, Joseman's legal counsel, has argued it should. He
claims cannabis is an economic commodity like any other. Beckers has
shown that Easy Going, one of Maastricht's 14 coffee shops, expects
to sell €10 million worth of cannabis this year, in addition to the
€500,000 it stands to make from "normal" activities, such as selling
coffee. Because of the illegal nature of some of its business, a
coffee shop is under no obligation to pay sales tax on the cannabis
it sells, but Easy Going is required to pay income tax, employee
benefits, corporate tax and value-added tax on its legal revenues.
The lawyer also cited a recent study which found coffee shops
indirectly added €140 million and 1,370 jobs to the Dutch economy.
Maintaining Public Order
Sander Lely, an attorney for the city, countered that trade in
contraband could never be covered by regulations governing the common
market. "That some of its revenue is generated through the sale of
legal products is irrelevant," Lely said. He was supported in his
argument by both Dutch and Belgian representatives.
Hubert van Vliet, a representative of the European Commission,
pointed out the possible consequences if the ECJ found coffee shops
were not covered by EU laws. "Everything pertaining to coffee shops
would then be exempt," he argued. "What will that mean for the border
workers employed there? The free flow of capital would also be
affected, which means only Dutch nationals would be allowed to own
coffee shops."
Lely and the representative of the Dutch state argued that the
exclusion of foreign nationals from coffee shops was not merely a
matter of Dutch self interest, but also important for the maintenance
of public order in other EU member states. "The Netherlands is
subject to international pressure in this respect," said Corina
Wissels, the Dutch representative. Approximately 70 percent of the 2
million people who visit a Maastricht coffee shop each year are from
foreign countries, mainly Germany, France and Belgium. The Belgian
representative asked the court to consider the nuisance caused by
French drug users traveling through Belgium, drug runners and users
returning home driving under the influence.
Customer-Card System
Arguing for the European Commission, Van der Vliet referred to an
earlier ruling by the ECJ concerning Polish prostitutes in the
Netherlands. In that case, the court ruled that a member states could
not apply one set of business laws to its own citizens and another
set to other EU nationals. "The European Commission does not oppose a
test case in itself," he said. "But why haven't less far-reaching
measures been tried first, such as a customer-card system, reducing
the maximum amount available to single customers or requiring
customers to consume purchased wares on the spot?"
The judges expressed surprise over the Dutch drug policy. They asked
what the coffee shop's permit was for exactly, if the sale of
cannabis was technically illegal in the Netherlands. The court also
wondered who supplied the drugs on sale to the coffee shop. The state perhaps?
The ECJ declined to schedule a specific date for its ruling. It did,
however, promise to process the case quickly. A definitive ruling by
the Dutch Council of State is expected before the end of this year.
The case will play an important part in the formation of new Dutch
soft-drug policy. Mayors of Dutch border municipalities have also
said they would await a ruling by the Council of State before
experimenting with customer cards for cannabis users.
.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Sixties-L" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected].
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/sixties-l?hl=en.
