9. Internal Market: Goods I

Author(s):  
Robert Schütze

This chapter explores the European Union's negative integration tools in the context of the free movement of goods. In order to create an internal market in goods, the EU insists that illegal barriers to intra-Union trade must be removed. Its constitutional regime is, however, split over two sites in Part III of the TFEU. It finds its principal place in Title II governing the free movement of goods, which is complemented by a chapter on ‘Tax Provisions’ in Title VII. Within these two sites, one finds three important prohibitions. The first is the prohibition on customs duties, which are fiscal duties charged when goods cross national borders. The second type of fiscal charge is the discriminatory taxes imposed on foreign goods. The chapter then investigates the legality of and possible justifications for regulatory restrictions to trade in goods.

2021 ◽  
pp. 499-556
Author(s):  
Robert Schütze

This chapter analyses the constitutional regime of ‘negative integration’ in the context of the free movement of goods. The free movement of goods has traditionally been the most progressive fundamental freedom within the internal market. The negative integration regime for goods is split over two sites within Part III of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). And with regard to goods, the EU Treaties further distinguish between fiscal restrictions and regulatory restrictions. The fiscal restrictions include pecuniary charges that are imposed on imports or exports (customs duties and discriminatory taxation), while the regulatory restrictions include non-tariff measures that limit market access by ‘regulatory’ means. The chapter then looks at possible justifications for such regulatory restrictions.


2020 ◽  
pp. 294-322
Author(s):  
Sylvia de Mars

This chapter explores the free movement of goods, which lies at the very heart of the internal market. The idea of the free movement of goods was the starting point that the EEC Treaty aimed for, and remains one of the greatest achievements of the EU to date. However, as with everything in EU law, there are a lot of legal rules underpinning a fairly straightforward concept. The Treaty contains two separate sets of provisions that address matters of taxation when it comes to trade in products. The first relates to border taxation, while the second relates to internal taxation. With regard to non-taxation issues, the primary issue is quantitative restrictions: situations where a Member State either blocks a specific volume of products from entering its market, or outlaws/bans a product altogether. The chapter then considers the exceptions to free movement of goods, and assesses how Brexit may impact on the free movement of goods between the UK and the EU.


2020 ◽  
pp. 90-120
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Homewood

This chapter discusses the law on the free movement of goods in the EU. Free movement of goods is one of the four ‘freedoms’ of the internal market. Obstacles to free movement comprise tariff barriers to trade (customs duties and charges having equivalent effect), non-tariff barriers to trade (quantitative restrictions and measures having equivalent effect), and discriminatory national taxation. The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) prohibits all kinds of restrictions on trade between Member States. Article 30 (ex Article 25 EC) prohibits customs duties and charges having equivalent effect; Article 34 (ex Article 28 EC) prohibits quantitative restrictions and all measures having equivalent effect; and Article 110 (ex Article 90 EC) prohibits discriminatory national taxation.


Author(s):  
Manuel Kellerbauer

Divergences between MS’ rules can create regulatory requirements that hinder the free movement of goods, persons, services, and capital and create unequal competitive conditions for economic operators in the internal market. Removing such hindrances and imbalances is the rationale of the Treaty provisions on the ‘Approximation of Laws’ laid down in Chapter 3 of Title VII TFEU. The provisions are thus meant to contribute to the aim of establishing an internal market set out in the first sentence of Article 3(3) TEU.


Author(s):  
Matthew J. Homewood

This chapter discusses the law on the free movement of goods in the EU. Free movement of goods is one of the four ‘freedoms’ of the internal market. Obstacles to free movement comprise tariff barriers to trade (customs duties and charges having equivalent effect), non-tariff barriers to trade (quantitative restrictions and measures having equivalent effect), and discriminatory national taxation. The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) prohibits all kinds of restrictions on trade between Member States. Article 30 (ex Article 25 EC) prohibits customs duties and charges having equivalent effect; Article 34 (ex Article 28 EC) prohibits quantitative restrictions and all measures having equivalent effect; and Article 110 (ex Article 90 EC) prohibits discriminatory national taxation.


Author(s):  
Catherine Barnard

The chapter considers Brexit and the EU internal market. Barnard emphasizes the role that the UK played in creating the EU internal market and examines the view that its four freedoms—free movement of goods, services, capital, and people—are indivisible. The decision of the UK to leave the EU has paradoxically contributed to entrench the view that the four freedoms are indivisible. This reduces the possibility for the UK to maintain access to the EU single market after Brexit—a fact acknowledged even by the UK government. However, the EEA model might be the best solution for the UK post-Brexit, reflecting UK citizens’ demands, and also in the interest of the EU. Nevertheless, the withdrawal of the UK may strengthen protectionist trends within the EU. Moreover, Barnard emphasizes that Brexit poses challenges for the UK internal market, which the Great Repeal Bill will need to address.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Del Sol ◽  
Marco Rocca

The European Union appears to be promoting at the same time both cross-national mobility of workers and an increased role for occupational pensions. There is, however, a potential tension between these two objectives because workers risk losing (some of) their pension rights under an occupational scheme as a consequence of their mobility. After long negotiations, the EU has addressed this issue through a minimum standards Directive. Shortly before the adoption of this Directive, the Court of Justice also delivered an important decision in the same field, in the case of Casteels v British Airways. By analysing the resulting legal framework for safeguarding pension rights under occupational schemes in the context of workers’ mobility, we argue that the application of the case law developed by the Court of Justice in the field of free movement of workers has the potential to offer superior protection compared to the Directive. We also highlight the fact that the present legal framework seems to afford a much fuller protection to the intra-company cross-national mobility of workers employed by multinational companies, while also seemingly favouring mobility for highly specialised workers.


2021 ◽  
pp. 300-321
Author(s):  
Margot Horspool ◽  
Matthew Humphreys ◽  
Michael Wells-Greco

This chapter introduces the law on the free movement of goods in the EU. It discusses the following: the customs union; the free movement of goods provisions in the TFEU; customs duties and common customs tariffs; charges having equivalent effect to a customs duty, and charges falling within the scope of internal taxation.


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