Court of Justice overrules Swedish ban on alcohol ads

The European Court of Justice on Thursday ruled Sweden's ban on alcohol advertising to be obstacle to the free movement of services within the EU and, therefore, contravened the EU's founding treaty, the Financial Times​ reports. The case was brought by Gourmet magazine against Swedish legislation that bans the advertising of spirits, wine and strong beer in the press. Mike Pullen, partner at DLA law firm in Brussels, said: "This is an important clarification of EU law. This now means that other restrictions put in place by other countries are all open to challenge."​ The Commission said the judgment was important because it recognised advertising as a service and it could use the judgment to attack other national bans on certain types of advertising and sales promotions. The ruling was also deemed to be an important boost to the Commission's drive to complete the single market for services. It estimates that, if it could create a single market for services, it could lead to 36m new jobs.