Germany's legal challenge against an EU law banning tobacco advertising should be dismissed, Philippe Leger, the advocate general at the EU's top court, said.

His advice has dealt a blow to Germany’s challenge that Brussels has over-stepped its powers by legislating in a health area. Instead Leger, arguing on the basis of internal market rules, said that different rules between member states on tobacco advertising hindering the bloc's internal market. Differences between national rules, most of which seek to limit or prohibit such advertising, inevitably have the effect of impeding not only the free movement of goods but also the freedom to provide services, he said. "In effect, the provision of the EC Treaty aimed at the approximation of the provisions of the Member States which have as their object the establishment and functioning of the internal market is appropriate for putting an end to the divergent development of national rules in this field, which was contributing significantly to the fragmentation of the internal market," the advocate general concluded. The opinion of the advocate general is normally later confirmed by the European Court of Justice itself.