3 - Free Movement of Goods 2: Articles 34-36 Flashcards
What are the articles concerning the non fiscal barriers to free flow of goods between Member States?
Articles 34, 35, 36 TFEU
Basic example of non fiscal barriers
- Bans by MS on importation of particular goods from other MS
Quotas
What does Article 34 TFEU focus on?
- Restrictions on imports
Principal entity it binds are MS
In which case was Article 34 applied to quasi public bodies?
- R v Royal Pharma society of GB ex parte Association of Pharma Importers
- Article 34 applies to measures adopted by the body responsible for regulating the pharma profession in UK.
Who remains outside the ambit of Article 34 TFEU?
- Purely private bodies and individuals
- But Commission v Ireland - MS cannot circumvent their obligations under a34 by relying on private company
- Commission v France “spanish strawberries” - MS in breach of obligations under a34 when it fails to take measures to prevent free movement of goods being obstructed by private individuals.
What is prohibited by Article 34 TFEU?
- Quantitative restrictions
- Measures having equivalent effect to qualitative restrictions (MEQRs)
Which case defined “quantitative restrictions?” what happened?
- Geddo v Ente Nazionale Risi
- “measures that amount to a total or partial restraint of importants, exports or goods in transit.”
What is a classic example of a quantitative restriction and what case did this arise in?
- Ban on imports
- R v Henn and Darby
- Ban on porn imports into the UK - D’s were convicted of violating the relevant statutory offence.
Held: statutory offence breached Article 34 because it banned import of the material
What is the most extreme quantitative restriction?
- A ban is the most extreme
What is the most extreme quantitative restriction?
A ban is the most extreme
What apart from bans constitute quantitative restrictions in violation of Article 34?
- Quotas on imports
- E.g. a licensing system that only allows importers to import specific quantity of product
- International Fruit Company NV v Productshap voor Groenten
What cases the most harm to the free movement of goods?
- Measure constituting a quantitative restriction.
- Only way it can be lawful is if it can be justified on grounds of a36. (list that a34 can be derogated from)
What are some examples of MEQRs - measures having equivalent effect?
- Disguised barriers to trade
- National rules that regulate the physical requirements that a product has to satisfy, e.g. shape / packaging before it can be sold to the public
What are the 2 sources that have defined how EU law defines MEQRs?
- Directive 70/50
2. Case: Procureur du Roi v Dassonville
What are the characteristics of Directive 70/50?
- Divided MEQRs into 2 groups:
- Distinctly & indistinctly applicable measures
What are distinctly applicable measures under directive 70/50?
- Measures that don’t apply equally to domestic + imported goods.
- Discriminate against imports
- They make importation more difficult or costly relative to domestic product.
- E.g. national rules that demand higher standards from imported goods.
What are INdistinctly applicable measures under directive 70/50?
- Apply to both domestic + imported goods
- Without drawing distinction between them - article 3 directive 70/50
- Can place imported goods at disadvantage in practice but not always
Explain the case of Procureur du Roi v Dassonville?
- Defined MEQR
- Trading rules enacted by MS that can hinder intra community trade
- Created the Dassonville formula.
- Trading rule must be capable of hindering trade between MS to be MEQR
Rewe-Zentral AG v Bundesmonopolverwaltung
- Held: indistinctly applicable measure relating to alcohol content was MEQR
- Prohibited by article 34 TFEU
- Important to have a distinction between distinctly + indistinctly applicable measures because defences for each category differ
Commission v Ireland “Buy Irish”?
- This case widened the concept of an MEQR under Article 34 TFEU
- Courts made it clear that there is no need for trade between MS to have actually been hindered so long that there is chance for intra community trade to be hindered.
Commission v France (Spanish Strawberries)
- Held - failure of France to take measures to prevent private individuals using violence to obstruct the free movement of goods was also an MEQR
- This included failure to mount criminal prosecutions + failure of french police to be present.
What are further court examples of MEQRs?
- Imposing additional requirements on imports
- Restricting channels of imports
- National rules giving preference to domestic goods
Examples of imposing additional requirements on imports as an MEQR?
- Dassonville = good illustration
- Belgian law
- Needed goods bearing destination of origin e.g. Scotch whisky, to carry certificate of origin.
- Father + son did not have cert of origin and forged certificates as they were hard to get
- Held: the requirement to get certificates of origin was MEQR if they could only be obtained with great difficulty.
Examples of national rules giving preference to domestic goods?
- Example: Buy Irish case / “Irish Souveniers case”
- Irish g’ment launched campaign to promo Irish goods.
- After campaign amount of imports actually increased
- Held: campaign was designed to increase proportion of Irish goods sold in Ireland at expense of imports
- MEQR bc had the potential to affect volume of imports into Ireland from other MS
What happened in Irish Souvenirs case?
- Irish rules needed imported jewellery to have motifs to show that they were Irish
- And to say “foreign” if not from Ireland
- Held: buyers do not need to know where product was from
- Rules - MEQR violating Article 34
What was first established by Regulation 1151/2012 (previously Regulation 2081/92)?
- EU scheme for ensuring that agricultural products and foodstuffs which originated from particular place
- Retain right to be identified with that place / region.
- Provides for granting of PGI protected geographical indication.
What are PGI / PDOs?
- Protect particular method of manufacture e.g. for Blue stilton cheese
- Granted to products whose qualities / attributes are linked to their geographical origin - parma ham / feta cheese / Melton Mowbray pork pies, Kalamata olives, Dortmunder Bier
- Only products which have been granted PGI / PDO status are able to use product name protected by that status.
What does PGI / PDO stand for?
- PGI = Protected Geographical Indication
- PDO = Protected designation of Origin
Do the measures of an MEQR have to be distinctly applicable? What is the case authority for this?
- Dassonville made no reference to measures having to be distinctly applicable.
- All they have to do is hinder trade.
- Indistinctly applicable measures can also be prohibited by a34 TFEU.
- Confirmed by cassis de dijon.
What happened in the case of Cassis de Dijon?
- German law
- Specified minimum alcohol level of 25% for fruit liquer.
- Indistinctly applicable because it applied equally to domestic + imported liquers
- Had effect of impeding the importation of french cassis which had content of 15-20%.
- Held: german requirement amounted to an MEQR.