''Josemans'' v ''Burgemeester van Maastricht'' (case C-137/09) is a

European Union law European Union law is a system of Supranational union, supranational Law, laws operating within the 27 member states of the European Union (EU). It has grown over time since the 1952 founding of the European Coal and Steel Community, to promote ...

case from

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, concerning

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

and the

free movement of services The European single market, also known as the European internal market or the European common market, is the single market comprising mainly the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union (EU). With certain excep ...

in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. The Second Chamber of the

Court of Justice of the European Union The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ( or "''CJUE''"; Latin: Curia) is the Judiciary, judicial branch of the European Union (EU). Seated in the Kirchberg, Luxembourg, Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, this EU ins ...

pronounced its ruling on 16 December 2010.

Facts

Netherlands prohibited marketing of

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

, but tolerated by law. Municipal legislation in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

limited access to marijuana cafes to residents only. Josemans, who ran a coffee shop selling marijuana, claimed that this prohibition contravened the freedom to provide services under

TFEU The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) is one of two treaties forming the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU), the other being the Treaty on European Union (TEU). It was previously known as the Treaty Establish ...

article 56, and that it would have to be justified.

Judgment

The Court of Justice, Second Chamber, held that

article 56 could not be relied on to challenge municipal laws. Legislation restricting free movement of services was justified by the need to combat drug tourism.

Significance

The case has been criticised for its inconsistency on previous Court of Justice cases on illegal services. For example, De Witte writes the following.See F De Witte, 'Sex, Drugs & EU law' (2013) 50 Common Market Law Review 1545, 1564

References

{{reflist 2010 in cannabis 2010 in case law 2010 in the Netherlands Cannabis in Europe Cannabis in the Netherlands Drug policy European Union services case law History of Maastricht Maastricht Recreational drug tourism

Facts

Judgment

Significance

See also

References