Introduction to the European Union
Law
Free movement of goods
Free movement of goods
• The most important basic freedom for most
member states
• Fundamental principles of the common market
are contained in tne TFEU
• The EU law strictly prohibits:
– Customs and charges having equivalent effect (See
Art. 30)
– tax discrimination (taxes are generally allowed –
unfortunately…  )
– restrictions (quotas) and measures having equivalent
effect (See Art. 34 - 36)
Definition of goods
• Objects which can and may be traded are goods.
• Together with services (other basic economic freedom in the
EU), goods are products of human activity.
• There are border cases. Narcotics are not goods due to their
illegality. Due to special channels of distribution and their
legal status, organs, tissues, and blood for human use are not
labelled as goods. Cash, postage stamps, mail, legal
certificates and various documents are not regarded as goods
if they serve their purpose. Trade in weapons is also limited.
• Waste and electricity are, on the other hand, regarded as
goods.
Customs, charges having equivalent effect
• The ban is absolute, there is NO exemption!
• Customs duties on goods from member states
can never be justified
• Export customs duties and charges having
equivalent effect are disallowed as well
• Definition of CD: all charges imposed on goods
just because these goods cross a border
between two member states which are labeled
as customs
• Example of CHEE?
tax discrimination
• See Art. 110 TFEU - its aim is to prevent the
objectives of articles 28 to 30 TFEU being
undermined by a discriminatory internal taxation.
• articles 28 to 30 are designed to prevent financial
measures, whether in form of customs duties or
charges having equivalent effect, from impeding
the free flow of goods. These provisions outlaw
such measures which are imposed as a result of a
product crossing frontier. These provisions are
however not able to protect goods originating in
other member states while already being on a
market of another state.
Quantitative restrictions of free movement of
goods
• What can we understand under the term
quantitative restrictions of free movement of
goods?
– Mostly quotas and licenses
• Unlike customs the prohibition of quotas is
not absolute: exception clause?
set of exemptions – in Art. 36 TFEU
• ban on quotas and measures … does not apply
if the quota or a measure is justified by the
necessary protection of:
– national security,
– public order,
– morality,
– protection of human, animal and plant life and
health,
– protection of national treasures and
– protection of intellectual property rights
measures having equivalent effect
• The Court of Justice has repeatedly dealt the
meaning of the term “measures having
equivalent effect”. It started with a very wide
approach => Case Dassonville:
• Belgium officials required Mr. Dassonville to
present an official certificate of origin of this
whiskey –
– Can such Belgian regulation possibly affect the
intercommunity trade or not?
Case Dassonville
• Therefore the ECJ held in its decision that –
any measure of a member state actually or
potentially adversely affecting interstate trade
in goods is prohibited.
• Problem?
Case Cassis de Dijon
• there are same values which have to be protected even if
the trade among states is restricted.
• under the German law the beverage could be marketed
as liquor only if it contained at least 25 percent of alcohol
- Cassis – 19% only
• ECJ accepted that there are some generally applied
reasonable measures necessary for protection of general
interests which shall not be covered by the dassonville
formula and shall be exempt.
• A free movement of a product which is lawfully marketed
in one member state shall not be restricted in other
member state
Case Keck and Mithouard
• These two gentlemen imported some goods
to France and were selling them for a price
lower than their actual price or value – so
called sale at a loss.
• ECJ: The main point in this decision was that
the Court made a distinction between
national rules which relate to goods
themselves and which are relating to sale
arrangements
Therefore…
• According to K&M Case:
• The national rules on selling arangements are
justified if they:
– apply to all traders operating within the national
territory and if they
– affect in a same way marketing of both domestic
and foreign products.
Solution?
• harmonization or even unification of
standards for production and distribution of
products.
• The instrument for standardization are
numerous directives which regulates almost
all branches of industry.
• However, due to the fact that harmonization is
not possible in all relevant areas the
development in ECJ case law is still important
C-405/98 - Gourmet International Products
• In Sweden – total ban on advertising of alcoholic
beverages
• Gourmet company violated this general
• The main issue in the Gourmet case was whether
the ban in question fell within the scope of the
Keck-rule, thereby falling outside EU-law.
• Result:
– the Gourmet-case is in fact a confirmation that the
Keck-rule does not apply to services.
– the Gourmet case only provides for a development of
the Keck-rule by introducing a market access test
C-28/09 - Commission v Austria
• Austrian authorities adopted in 2003 a traffic
prohibition for lorries of over 7.5 tonnes carrying
certain goods (waste, stones, earth, motor vehicles,
logs, cereals) on a 46 km section of the A12 motorway
• ECJ - by adopting a sectoral traffic prohibition without
sufficiently examining the possibility of having
recourse to other less restrictive measures, Austria
has disproportionately restricted the free movement of
goods
• .
C-108/01 - Prosciutto di Parma
• British store was selling “PARMA HAM” in its stores in GB
• Ham was produced but not sliced and packed in region of
Parma
• Parma ham is protected designation of origin (PDO)
• the conditition that the slicing and packaging of the product
must be done in the region of Parma is a part of the regulation
concerning the PDO
C-385/96 - Goerres
• Mr Goerres offered for sale in his shop in Germany various
foodstuffs that were not labeled in German but only in French,
Italien or English
• EU directive - labelling should be in a language easily understood
by consumers of the State or region in which it is sold to the
customer
• ECJ - the EU law does not preclude national legislation which, as
regards language requirements, prescribes the use of a specific
language for the labelling of foodstuffs as long as it also permits, as
an alternative, the use of another language easily understood by
purchasers
C-192/01 - Danish vitamins
• In 1998, when Denmark's Food and Veterinary
Office (Office) refused the marketing of Ocean
Spray Cranberry Juice with added vitamin C, a
complaint was made to the Commission
alleging unjust obstacles to trade