On September 12, 2024, The Hague formally adopted an ordinance that prohibits advertisements for fossil fuel products and services in public and private spaces throughout The Hague. These products may include petrol, gas heating, diesel vehicles, air travel, cruise shipping, or other related items. The ordinance went into effect on January 1, 2025, serving as the first comprehensive legal ban of its kind globally. 

On April 2, 2025, a branch association Algemene Nederlandse Vereniging van Reisondernemingen (ANVR) and travel operators TUI, D-reizen, and Prijsvrij filed a complaint in the District Court of The Hague. The plaintiffs requested a preliminary injunction to suspend the ordinance, alleging that the ban disproportionately restricted commercial freedom. The plaintiffs specifically alleged that the ban violates freedom of expression as protected under Article 7 of the Dutch Constitution. The plaintiffs further alleged that the ban violates EU regulations, specifically stating that the ban provides a higher level of consumer protection than the EU Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices legally provides. The plaintiffs also contended that the advertising ban violates the free movement of goods under Article 34 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), claiming that it would disadvantage foreign market participants. 

The hearing took place on April 12, 2025, and the District Court of The Hague issued its ruling on April 25, 2025. The court dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims and upheld the ban, stating that the municipality lawfully exercised its powers under Dutch administrative law and that rights under EU law are not absolute and may be restricted for reasons of public interest. The court also stated that the measure is non-discriminatory and that public interest in combating climate change supersedes the economic interests of advertisers. 

On March 27, 2026, the ANVR decided to start an ordinary legal proceedings based on the merits. 

However, in July 2026, the newly installed local government of The Hague annulled the advertising ban for fossil fuel advertising. By September 2026, it is unclear how this decision will affect the continuation of the lawsuit.

ANVR, TUI, D-reizen, and Prijsvrij v. The Hague

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ANVR, TUI, D-reizen, and Prijsvrij v. The Hague - decision

Filed

Netherlands

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Actions to adapt and increase the resilience of rural and urban infrastructure and settlements to climate change.

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from carbonised plant matter, rich in carbon and hydrocarbons, and occurring in several main types including hard coal and brown coal.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

Activities of businesses and institutions that provide financial services and products to individuals and organisations.

ANVR, TUI, D-reizen, and Prijsvrij v. The Hague - decision

Policy instrument

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance