Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1998:64
Date: 1998-02-17
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Right of establishment;Freedom to provide services;Free movement of workers
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Greece

Summary of the Judgmen t 
Freedom of movement for persons — Freedom to provide services — Derogations — Grounds of 
public policy — Criminal conviction for drug use — Automatic penalty of expulsion for life from 
the Member State's territory applied to Community nationals — Not permissible 
(EC Treaty, Arts 48, 52, 56 and 59; Council Directive 64/221, Art. 3) 
I - 11 
SUMMARY — CASE C-348/96 
Articles 48,52 and 59 of the Treaty and Article 
3 of Directive 64/221 on the coordination of 
special measures concerning the movement 
and residence of foreign nationals which are 
justified on grounds of public policy, public 
security or public health preclude national 
legislation which — with certain exceptions, 
in particular where there are family reasons 
— requires a Member State's courts to order 
expulsion for life from its territory of nationals 
of other Member States found guilty on that 
territory of the offences of obtaining and 
being in possession of drugs for their own 
personal use. 
Such a penalty constitutes an obstacle to the 
fundamental freedoms laid down in those 
articles of the Treaty. Although a Member 
State may consider that the use of drugs con­
stitutes a danger for society such as to justify 
special measures against foreign nationals who 
contravene its laws on drugs, in order to 
maintain public order, an expulsion order jus­
tified by the public policy exception provided 
for inter alia in Article 56 of the Treaty could 
be made against a Community national only 
if, besides his having committed an offence 
under drugs laws, his personal conduct cre­
ated a genuine and sufficiently serious threat 
affecting one of the fundamental interests of 
society. That is not the position where expul­
sion for life from the national territory has 
automatically followed a criminal conviction, 
and no account has been taken of the offend­
er's personal conduct or of the danger which 
that person represents for the requirements of 
public policy. 
I - 1 2