Lecture notes

EU law- free movement of goods notes

2 purchases

Module
EU Law (LAW)

Institution
Cambridge University (CAM)

Book
European Union Law

The document is an outline of the 'free movement of goods' topic covered in all EU law modules. It refers to all of the important case law, statutory provisions and some academic commentary. The notes try to follow a chronological order, as and when new legal developments emerge.

[Show more]

Preview 3 out of 23 pages

View example

Uploaded on October 11, 2023
Number of pages 23
Written in 2022/2023
Type Lecture notes
Professor(s) Catherine barnard
Contains All classes

£8.99

Add to cart

Add to wishlist

100% satisfaction guarantee
Immediately available after payment
Both online and in PDF
No strings attached

EU supervisions 5/6 review

Free movement of goods

Fiscal rules:

Article 28 TFEU:
‘The Union shall comprise a customs union which shall cover all trade in goods and which shall
involve the prohibition between Member States of customs duties on imports and exports and of all
charges having equivalent effect, and the adoption of a common customs tariff in their relations with
third countries’

Article 30 TFEU: no customs duties or charges having equivalent effect
An absolute prohibition which applies at the frontier

Van Gend en Loos: the Court held that it was of little importance how the increase in customs duties
occurred; the fact was that customs duties were now higher than when the EEC Treaty came into force
and so the charge contravened the Treaty

Customs duties are prohibited because they are protectionist: they make the imported good more
expensive than the rival domestic product

Article 30 also prohibits CEEs, thereby preventing Member States from circumventing the prohibition
on customs duties by dressing up the charge as something else (Statistical Levy case)

There is no de minimis rule in Article 30

On the facts of Statistical Levy, the Court found that a very small charge of 10 lire on each importer to
cover the cost of collecting trade statistics breached Article 30 because it ‘hampers the
interpenetration at which the Treaty aims and thus has an effect on the free circulation of goods
equivalent to a customs duty’

Other examples include a charge imposed for health inspections on products from other Member
States (Rewe-Zentralfinanz)

Legros: Articles 28 and 30 also apply to charged levied on the crossing of a frontier internal to a
particular Member State
‘The effect of such a regional levy on the unity of the Union customs territory is not altered by the fact
that is also charged on goods from the other parts of the territory of the Member State in question’

Overlooks the fact that Article 28 expressly states that the principle of free movement applies
exclusively between the Member States

Diamantarbeiders: customs duties were prohibited independently of any consideration of the purpose
for which they were introduced, and the destination of the revenue obtained

No account is taken of either the potentially beneficial purpose to which the charge is put, or the fact
that the money is not used to benefit the national treasury

,Article 30 has vertical direct effect
What if private parties are responsible for collecting the duties? (Dubois)

In San Giorgio, the Court ruled that a restitutionary claim was available to the trader who had paid a
customs duty or a charge having equivalent effect contrary to Union law subject to unjust enrichment

Comateb: to repay the trader the amount of the charge already received from the purchaser would be
tantamount to paying it twice over while in no way remedying the consequences for the purchaser of
the illegality of the charge

If the burden of the charge had been passed on only in part, it was for the national authorities to repay
the trader the amount which had not been passed on

The likelihood of final consumers actually reclaiming the money is minimal- they are more likely to
vote with their wallets and buy the rival (probably national) product which is not subject to these
additional costs
THEREFORE the trader could also have a claim for damages for loss of sales brought about by
having to pass on the unlawfully levied charge

The principle of national procedural autonomy applies to claims for restitution and damages with the
result that national procedural rules govern the cause of action providing they are not less favourable
than those relating to similar claims regarding national charges (the principle of non-discrimination)
and are not framed so as to render virtually impossible the exercise of rights conferred by Union law
(the principle of effectiveness)

Three permissible charges recognised in Commission v Germany:

● Payments for genuine administrative services rendered to the importer/exporter

If the payment is consideration for a genuine service of direct benefit to the importer or exporter, it is
not a CEE

For the charge to fall outside the scope of Article 30, the service must confer a specific benefit on the
individual importer/exporter

In Statistical Levy, because the statistical information was beneficial to the public as a whole, it should
have been paid for by the public (through general taxation), and not by the individual
importer/exporter

See also Bresciani: because the public as a whole benefitted, the costs had to be met out of the public
purse
The case concerned veterinary health inspections on imported raw cowhides

● Charges for inspections required by Union law

According to Commission v Germany, costs for compliance with mandatory inspections required by
Union law can be passed on to the importer

, Four conditions:

1) The charges do not exceed the actual costs of the inspections in connection with which they
are charged
2) The inspections are obligatory and uniform for all the products concerned in the Union
3) They are prescribed by Union law in the general interest of the Union
4) They promote the free movement of goods, in particular by neutralising obstacles which could
arise from unilateral measures of inspection adopted in accordance with Article 36

● Charges falling within the scope of internal taxation

Article 110 TFEU: no discriminatory or protective taxation levied internally within a state

Article 110(1) TFEU prohibits discriminatory taxation in respect of goods which are similar

If the Court finds that the products are not similar, it then considers Article 110(2), which concerns
products in competition

The principle of fiscal autonomy/sovereignty

Member States are free to determine their own schemes of taxation
Considerable discretion to determine the content of their own taxation policy

Union law does not restrict the freedom of each Member State to lay down tax arrangements which
differentiated between certain products on the basis of objective criteria (unrelated to origin), such as
the nature of the raw materials used (the Johnnie Walker case)

Article 110 is therefore essentially permissive
It allows Member States both to raise revenue by taxation and to determine the content of their own
taxation policy

If the Court senses that the policy choices guiding the taxation decisions are underpinned by
discrimination on the grounds of origin, it will apply Article 110
e.g., see the line of cases concerning the taxation of alcoholic drinks where, for instance, the UK taxed
beer more leniently than wine
The Court suspected that the national taxation scheme favoured national products to the detriment of
similar or potentially equivalent products produced elsewhere, and so applied Article 110

Article 110(1)

Article 110(1) prohibits the host Member State from imposing a higher tax on goods imported into the
Member State than on similar domestic goods

A broad test is applied which combines a factual comparison of the products with an economic
analysis of their use
Commission v Denmark: ‘it is necessary first to consider certain objective characteristics of both
categories of beverages, such as their origin, the method of manufacture and their organoleptic

The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.

Quick and easy check-out

You can quickly pay through credit card for the summaries. There is no membership needed.

Focus on what matters

Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!

Frequently asked questions

What do I get when I buy this document?

You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.

Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?

Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.

Who am I buying these notes from?

Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller nataliawcislo. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.

Will I be stuck with a subscription?

No, you only buy these notes for £8.99. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.

Can Stuvia be trusted?

4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)

68175 documents were sold in the last 30 days

Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy revision notes and other study material for 15 years now

Start selling

Lecture notes

EU law- free movement of goods notes

Document information

Subjects

Connected book

More summaries for

Written for

Seller

Content preview