Luxembourg, Nov 30 - A Swedish law that bans private imports of alcohol unless a person physically brings it into the country is compatible with European Union law, an adviser to the bloc's top court said on Thursday.
"A ban on private imports of alcoholic drinks by individuals, as laid down by the law on alcohol, is not in principle contrary to article 31 (of the EU treaty)," the European Court of Justice's advocate-general said in an opinion.
"This ban would only be compatible with article 31 ... if it led to treating products coming from other member states, in law as well as in fact, in a non-discriminatory way," the adviser, Paolo Mengozzi, said.
The court upholds the opinion of its legal adviser in about 80 percent of cases.
It was up to Sweden's national court to decide whether this was the case, he said.
The Swedish state has a monopoly on selling alcohol through its SystemsBolaget shops and challenged a group of individuals who bought Spanish wine through a Danish Web site.
The wine was confiscated by the Swedish state.
Last week, the ECJ upheld a 1992 EU law that duty is charged in the EU state where goods are bought for personal use -- but only if transported by the purchaser.
This dashed the hopes of citizens in high-duty countries such as Britain and Scandinavia who hoped they would be allowed to buy cheap drink online from another state for home delivery.