Week 12: Free movement of goods

Question 1

Describe the free movements of goods in the EU

Answer 1

Customs duties are prohibited;
Charges having equivalent effect to customs duties are prohibited;
Quantitative restrictions are prohibited;
Measures having an equivalent effect to quantitative restrictions are prohibited.

Question 2

Describe the movements of persons:

Answer 2

Employed persons; self-employed persons 🡪 right of establishments; mutual recognition of qualifications;
providing key facilitators: education, job training, health care, social welfare payments.

Question 3

describe the free movements of services:

Answer 3

non-financial services market; financial services (banking, insurance, securities, asset management).

Question 4

describe the Free movements of capital:

Answer 4

Prior to SEA the necessary political will did not exist; all the major capital markets have been more or less open since 1990; still: taxation rates are different, and banking rules have not yet all been standardized.

Question 5

What are the fiscal barriers in the Free movement of goods?

Answer 5

Customs duties and charges having an equivalent effect; discriminatory taxation.

Question 6

Which are the three factors for the calculation of the customs duties?

Answer 6

1. The value of goods: the total amount paid or to be paid for the imported goods
2. The customs tariff to be paid: the tariff is common to all EU member states, but the rates of duty differ from one kind of import to another depending on what they are and where they come from
3. The origin of the goods: non-preferential /preferential origin countries,

Question 7

Describe Internal taxation

Answer 7

No Member State shall apply internal taxation to products from other Member States that are higher than the internal taxation applied to similar domestic products. Moreover, no Member State shall use internal taxation in a way that indirectly protects its own products.

Question 8

What are the “Spirits cases”?

Answer 8

Encompassed various instances where national tax systems showed preferences or advantages for domestic or traditional products over their foreign counterparts.

EXAMPLE: France & Cognac vs. Whisky: France applied more favorable tax treatment to its traditional cognac compared to imported whisky

Question 9

What are the types of discrimination in internal taxation?

Answer 9

1. Direct discrimination: This involves explicit differentiation in taxation based on the origin of goods, which directly disadvantages foreign products compared to domestic ones.
2. Indirect Discrimination: occurs based on other criteria, but it still results in a disadvantage for foreign goods, even if the differentiation is not explicitly based on their origin.