82It is settled case-law that the freedom to pursue a trade or profession, like the right to property, is one of the general principles of Community law. However, those principles are not absolute, but must be viewed in relation to their social function. Consequently, restrictions may be imposed on the exercise of the freedom to pursue a trade or profession, as on the exercise of the right to property, provided that such restrictions in fact correspond to objectives of general interest pursued by the European Community and do not constitute in relation to the aim pursued a disproportionate and intolerable interference, impairing the very substance of the rights guaranteed (see, inter alia, Case C-44/94 Fishermen's Organisations and Others [1995] ECR I-3115, paragraph 55; Case C-200/96 Metronome Musik [1998] ECR I-1953, paragraph 21; and Joined Cases C-20/00 and C-64/00 Booker Aquacultur and Hydro Seafood [2003] ECR I-7411, paragraph 68).
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