05/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - The Advocate General has said that the system in place in the Asturias for delivering permission to open a pharmacy constitutes an unjustified obstacle to freedom of establishment. In an opinion published on 30 September, Advocate General Miguel Poiares Maduro acknowledged that the aim of the rules was general interest: to spread pharmacies through the region even in less densely populated, and thus less financially attractive, areas. This could justify certain restrictions, but not those currently in place which are, the advocate general says, excessive and are ill-adapted to their aim. The final ruling on joined cases C-570/07 and C-571/07 will be handed down within the next few weeks. (C.D./transl.rt)