Scarce
licences
The legal framework, case-law and practical implications for distributing coffeeshop tolerance permits.
A coffeeshop operates on the basis of a tolerance declaration, not a licence. The EU Services Directive does not apply (confirmed in e.g. Council of State 13 September 2023, ECLI:NL:RVS:2023:3482 and District Court Midden-Nederland 12 December 2025, ECLI:NL:RBMNE:2025:7604). There is therefore no EU-law obligation to periodically redistribute tolerance declarations.
Scarcity only arises when a municipality itself caps the number of tolerance declarations. This dossier discusses the relevant case-law, the distinction between factual (policy-driven) scarcity and a scarce public right, and the requirements article 3:4 of the General Administrative Law Act imposes on a cap system.