LUXEMBOURG (CN) — Stripping a bar of its license for two weeks was not a disproportionate penalty for selling tobacco products to underage kids, the European Court of Justice ruled Thursday.
“The interest of protecting human health takes precedence over the right of the trader to sell tobacco products,” the Luxembourg-baed court said in a statement about Thursday's ruling, which marks a defeat for an Italian bar owner named in court documents by his initials.
Smoking indoors has been banned in Italy since 2005, but bars and restaurants can allow customers to smoke in separate rooms and can sell cigarettes in vending machines. The sale of tobacco products is prohibited to anyone under the age of 18.
PJ was caught selling cigarettes to a minor at his Tuscany bar in 2016. The Customs and Monopolies Agency, which regulates the sale of tobacco in Italy, fined PJ 1,000 euro ($1,100) and stripped his operational license for 15 days. He paid the fine, but claimed in court that the revocation of his license was “excessive and disproportionate.”
The Italian Council of State, or Consiglio di Stato, referred the issue to the ECJ for an interpretation of the 2014 Tobacco Products Directive, which requires all 27-member states of the EU to outlaw the sale of tobacco products to minors and penalize anyone caught selling them to children. The EU regulation leaves the penalties themselves up to individual states.
PJ’s arguments failed to sway the five-judge panel. "A system of penalties such as that at issue in the main proceedings therefore appears appropriate for attaining the objective of protecting human health and reducing in particular smoking prevalence among young people," the first chamber wrote.
In 2016, the court upheld sweeping tobacco reforms passed by EU lawmakers, including a complete ban of menthol cigarettes. Tobacco companies complained but the court said the new measures were appropriate in the bloc’s fight to cut smoking.
Follow @mollyquell
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
