If you are an EU national from a state that already belonged to the EU prior to May 2004, you are free to work in the Netherlands and your employer does not need a work permit.
Jobseekers are entitled to find work in the Netherlands for up to 3 months upon arrival without restrictions, if you intend staying longer than 3 months, you will require a residence permit, which can be obtained from the Foreign Police (Vreemdelingenpolitie).
Contact the National FP office on 0900 8844 (0.28E per min.) or go down to the local office in Amsterdam at Johan Huizingalaan 757, 1066 VH Amsterdam (+31-(0)20 559 63 00), open 9-1. For all other offices, consult the Gouden Gids (the Dutch yellow pages).


Coffee shops have long been a grey area as they are not legal but simply tollerated.
There are moves to make the business of coffeeshops legal , at the moment the coffeeshop supply is a "back door" business and the Dutch goverment are aware that there are links to criminals.
The Dutch have set up rules to restrict soft drugs to personal use and prevent illegal trade, marijuana and hash can only be purchased by adults (over 18) in amounts up to 30g.
Buying or selling soft drugs on the street or anywhere else but licensed coffeeshops is strictly forbidden and is considered a crime and is punished accordingly.
The goverment are not issuing new licenses so for anyone who wants to start a business selling ganja the only way to do it is to buy an already existing coffeeshop complete with the license.**

The move to make coffeeshops fully legal is the preamble to setting up a "home" supply network using legal Dutch growers to supply the coffee shops therefore eliminating the criminal ellement.


** This is how I got started.