DECEMBER 14, 2006

Germany loses tobacco case

The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg has ruled Germany has to implement a ban tobacco advertising in newspapers, magazines, radio and on the internet and also comply with regulations banning cross-border sponsoring of events, such as Formula 1.

The German government challenged the European directive on tobacco advertising on the grounds that EU law could not create barriers to trade. The European Court rejected the argument saying that that different national rules on tobacco advertising in member states could hinder the internal market.