Court approves ban on fossil fuel advertisements in The Hague; ANVR and TUI disappointed

The ban on fossil fuel advertisements in The Hague can continue, the court decided on Friday after travel group associations ANVR and TUI had filed summary proceedings against the ban. The preliminary injunction court in The Hague rejected all the objections from the travel organizations.

ANVR and TUI felt that the ban goes against the right to free speech and freedom of entrepreneurship. The parties also disagreed with the notion that this ban would result in a drop in emissions and felt that the municipality is not qualified to implement a ban. The court did not agree with these arguments. D-Reizen and Prijsvrij had also joined the procedure.

The court thinks that the municipality's reasons for the ban are well substantiated and that they are allowed to implement a ban. The fact that the contribution of the ban at a national and global level is "small" does not detract from this. "The municipality rightly pointed out that every little bit helps and that the municipality wants to do its part.”

The advertising ban has applied since January 1 and applies to products that use fossil fuels. This includes airplane travel. Companies are allowed to advertise their brand name or green products on advertising columns in the city. There is a transitional arrangement in which no fines will be issued until May 1.

The ANVR and TUI also said that they feel the ban is disproportionate, but the court also did not agree with these statements. “After all, the general health interests of citizens are only being opposed by the commercial interests of advertisers,” the court wrote. “That this conflict of interests did not work out in the advertiser's favor should not come as a surprise.”

Recently, the province of Noord-Holland decided against a ban on advertisements for meat, fish, petrol cars, and air travel. This was because the province would lose around 20,000 euros due to this ban.

“We will study the documents closely, but we are disappointed by this verdict, and we are looking into the possibilities to appeal the decision,” Frank Radstake, a director for ANVR, said in response to the verdict.

Radstake said that he is in favor of improved sustainability, but he thinks a local advertising ban is not a “useful step in that direction.” TUI general manager Arjan Kers agreed with Radstake’s comments. “A ban on advertising plane holidays limits the information that is available for consumers and undermines their capacity to make their own decisions,” he said.