Chapter 13 Flashcards
What are the four freedoms of negative integration?
- Free movement of goods
- Free movement of services
- Free movement of persons / workers
- Free movement of capital
What is positive integration?
The Union adopts it in order to remove obstacles to intra-Union trade
What is the scope of free movement of goods?
The scope is the creation of a ‘common’ or ‘internal’ market in the Union, in order to facilitate trade between the MS and getting rid of fiscal and quantitative restrictions. An area without internal frontiers, eliminating all the obstacles and merge the national markets into a single market.
The free movement of goods are divided in two parts
1) Fiscal restrictions (Art.30 TFEU and Art.110 TFEU)
2) Quantitative restrictions (Art.34 TFEU, Art.35 TFEU and Art.36 TFEU)
In fiscal restrictions, what is Art.30 TFEU about?
It is about the prohibition of custom duties and charges and how it is forbidden by law to impose taxes on imported or exported goods
What is Statistical Levy about?
Italy had disposed a levy on goods leaving or entering Italy for the purpose of collecting statistical data. Italy said that it was too insignificant to disturb the market.
But the Court said that any peculiar charge is an infringement of Art.30 TFEU.
In fiscal restrictions, what is Art.110 TFEU about?
It is about the prohibition of discriminatory domestic taxes. National taxes that discriminate between foreign and domestic goods or taxes that indirectly protect other goods
Art.110(1) TFEU prohibits foreign goods from being TAXED IN EXCESS of similar domestic goods. This discrimination may be direct or indirect.
Art.110(2) TFEU outlaws all internal taxations that INDIRECTLY PROTECT domestic goods by disadvantaging foreign goods
What is the distinction in quantitative restrictions and what articles are involved?
Art.34 TFEU and Art.35 TFEU which set out regulatory barriers for Quotas and Measures having Equivalent Effect
What are quotas?
It is the prohibition for a MS to decide how many quota of a foreign product to let in their country
What are MEE?
Measures having Equivalent Effect directly aim at foreign products, limiting them physically and hindering trade (additional inspections). It doesn’t have to be a direct discrimination.
What is the Dassonville case about?
It is about MEE and it happened in 1974. Two Belgian brothers sold whiskey, the Belgium government adopted a rule saying that in order to sell whiskey, producers had to posses a certification of origin (demonstrating the legality) but they purchased the whiskey from France, which did not produce these certificates and the Belgian brothers couldn’t comply with this rule.
They faked a certificate and they got caught, so before the ECJ they quoted Art.34 TFEU which prohibits quantitative restriction to trade.
The Court agreed with the Belgian brothers and they won the case after the Belgium government.
What is the Cassis de Dijon case about?
It is about MEE and it happened in 1979. This French producer wanted to sell his liquor of 15%-20% alcohol in Germany but there was a rule saying that only alcohol above 25% could be called liquor there. The french producers would have to change the label and it was effort and investment, so they considered it a qualitative restriction to trade.
The ECJ said that the German rule had indeed indirect discriminatory effect under Art.34-35 and it was also a reverse discrimination because it was also limiting German producers
What are the three principles of the Dassonville formula?
1) Principle of non-discrimination (you should be able to sell the same product under the same circumstances)
2) Principle of mutual recognition
3) Free market access
What is Art.36 TFEU about?
It is about limitations of Art.34 TFEU and Art.35 TFEU. If there is a public interest, provisions can be violated.
