Tariff Rate Quotas in The EU

The European Union has opened tariff rate quotas (TRQs) after the Uruguay Round (UR), following the agreement that minimum access should be provided and current access not be restricted. The EU TRQs are described and their origin is explained. Descriptive statistics are provided in order to assess the implementation of the market access provisions of the 1994 UR Agreement. Transparency of the EU TRQ system and fill rates of TRQs are examined. Overall, the EU's record in the area of TRQs is relatively satisfactory, compared with those of other countries. Concerns remain, however, as to the exact articulation of the (regional) Europe Agreement and some quotas under minimum access.

Constititional Judiciary in Central Europe and the Europe Agreement: Decision 30/1998 (VI.25) AB of the Hungarian Constitutional Court

Against a background of increasingly intense legal harmonisation and with the prospects of Central European accession to the EU drawing ever closer, a recent decision of the Hungarian Constitutional Court, Dec.30/1998 (VI.25) AB1 has highlighted the constitutional implications of applying EC law in the domestic system of an associate state. The judgment itself concerned the constitutionality of the competition provisions of the EC-Hungary Europe Agreement (“EA”) together with Decision 2/96 of the Association Council on the relevant Implementing Rules (“IR”). While the Hungarian court is not the first of its type in an associate state to deal with the effect internally of an Association Agreement,2 nevertheless its decision offers certain insights into the judicial response to the integration process in Central Europe.