Scarce
licences
A tolerance declaration is not a licence under the EU Services Directive. Scarcity arises because municipalities cap the number themselves — and that does not create an obligation to run lotteries or periodic redistribution. Norm-setting is possible instead of capping.
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Legal framework
What is and is not legally required.
Capping or norm-setting
The municipal choice and its consequences.
Our position & case file
Our arguments, solutions and correspondence.
A coffeeshop operates on the basis of a tolerance declaration, not a licence. The EU Services Directive does not apply (Council of State 13 September 2023, ECLI:NL:RVS:2023:3431; 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. That choice must be substantiated as current, necessary and proportionate (arts. 3:2, 3:4(2) and 3:46 General Administrative Law Act), including the consequences for existing businesses.
Our alternative: norm-setting instead of capping. A municipality can retain control through location, distribution and operating conditions in the environmental plan and local by-laws, without creating a numerical ceiling in advance.