Lecture notes
LAW OF THE EUROPEAN UNION II (LAW014) - Full Lecture Notes
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- The University Of Liverpool (UoL)
Full Lecture Notes for EU2 (LAW014) - Semester 2 Includes cases, judicial opinions and academic commentary.
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EU 2(Andy Woodhouse - a.woodhouse2@liverpool.ac.uk)
The EU Internal Market – Lecture 1
“The Common Market”, “Internal Market”, “Single Market” – all referring to the same idea
- Looked to build peace post-ww2
o Strong trade relations can’t go to war as they are trade partners
- Central to the community – eec
- Abolish barriers to free movement
What are the barriers to the free movement of goods?
- One nation may want to increase the sales of national companies
o Don’t want to necessarily increase the sales of imported goods
o That nation may introduce a tax, restrict the imports, or charge for every
imported product
Restriction, charges and taxation
- Original key ideas of internal market: all countries agree not to protect domestic
industries (as seen above)
o Charge – covered in Article 30 TFEU – Customs Charges
o Tax – Article 110 TFEU – Discriminatory or Protectionist Taxation
o Restrict – Article 34 TFEU – Quantitative Restrictions
Other barriers to trade:
- Differences in safety tests, environmental requirements, labelling etc
- Removing these barriers – “measures equivalent to quantitative restrictions” –
MEQRs)
- Positive and negative integration
o Basic historical development – positive integration, then negative, then
positive again (now a mix of both)
o Positive: create one standard for all of Europe; e.g. mobile phone roaming,
daylight saving time being abolished etc.; failed in the 1970s to facilitate
trade, idea of the 1958 treaty
Failed
Over time, will remove national veto and introduced majority
voting
o Easier to create common standards and remove mere
differences
Failed empty chair crisis
o Dispute that existed between France and the
commission in early 70s
o France wanted to retain control of the EU
o France boycotted the EU for 6 months
Crisis for the credibility of the EU
o The Luxembourg Compromise
, If any member state feels that their national
interests are at stake, they can veto(not right
word?)
Common standards weren’t created, and mere
differences remained
o Negative: removing the individual national measures and get in the way of
integration
Performed primarily by the court using art 34 TFEU
Created a general presumption of mutual recognition
o A nation should recognise that its mutual partners have
good enough regulations
If it is good enough to be sold in the ‘UK’ then it
should be assumed that it can also be sold in
‘France’
o Allowing for public interest justifications
Some rules can be justified e.g. public health,
the environment etc
In response to negative integration, there was a want for more
positive integration
o Response of positive integration
Member states seek to regulate at EU level
Removing veto with SEA1986
Attempt to “complete” the internal market by
1992
Focus on negative integration
- Regulatory differences – Article 34 TFEU – Measures Equivalent to Quantitative
Restrictions (as mentioned above)
- Definition of ‘goods’ - Case 7/68 Commission v Italy (Art Treasures) EU:C:1968:51
o “Goods are products which “can be valued in money and which are capable…
of forming the subject of commercial transactions”
Is free movement good?
- Commission describes it as a “success story”
o From the perspective of traders this is true
o From the perspective of everyone in society gives better, cheaper goods?
Helped economy to grow?
- Critiques of free movement of goods
o Democratic
Measures created democratically are being struck down by
supranational, unelected bodies eg the CJEU
o Distributive
Are the gains from free movement distributed fairly through society?
o Environmental
Are market goals prioritised above issues such as the climate crisis?
, Models society on consumerism and consumer choice, which can be
seen as incompatible with the changes required in society
Lecture 2 – Week 1
Fiscal restrictions – charges and taxes
Fiscal – government revenue eg taxes and charges
Article 30 TFEU
Charges, Duties, tariffs
The EU as a customs union
- Common tariff for all external borders
o Art 28 TFEU
- No tariffs for internal borders
o Art 30 TFEU
Distinction between art 30 and art 110 TFEU
- The name of the charge is insignificant
o Charges, duties, tariffs
- Art 30 – charge for crossing the border
- Art 110 – general taxation, with discriminatory or protectionist effects
Art 30
- Customs duties on imports and exports are prohibited
- Case 7/68 Commission v Italy (Art Treasures) EU:C:1968:51
o Italian measure to impose tariff on exported Italian art
- Charges having equivalent effect are prohibited
- Case 24/68 Commission v Italy (Statistical Levy) EU:C:1969:29
o “any pecuniary charge, however small and whatever its mode of designation
and mode of application, which is imposed unilaterally on domestic or foreign
goods by reason of the fact that they cross a frontier”
- General rule – purpose of charge Is irrelevant
o Case 7/68 Commission v Italy (Art Treasures) EU:C:1968:51
No defence whatsoever
Even if trying to protect the cultural identity of a nation eg Italian art
o (Joined Cases C-441/98 and C-442/98 Mikhailidis EU:C:2000:479)
Greek charge on tobacco export for the benefit of workers
Money went towards social security fund
Still not a good enough defence
o (Joined Cases 2/69 and 3/69 Sociaal Fonds EU:C:1969:30)
Belgium charge on imported diamonds for the benefit of diamond
trade
- Objective justifications
, o Charges for a specific service
However not accepted in the following cases
Statistical levy - Case 24/68 Commission v Italy (Statistical
Levy) EU:C:1969:29
o Aimed to measure trade patterns of Italian trade
o However not specifically benefitting the traders
themselves
Just a general benefit
Health inspections benefit public, not traders specifically -
Case 87/75 Bresciani EU:C:1976:18
o Justification can only apply to a specific service or
importer/exporter
o Obligations of Union law
Permissible
Case 18/87 Commission v Germany EU:C:1988:453
o Charge for veterinary inspections required under
Directive
Not permissible
Case 314/82 Commission v Belgium EU:C:1984:118)
o Charge for inspections on poultry meat merely allowed
by Directive
- Consequence of breaching Art 30 TFEU
o Citizens have a right to recover any charges actually made
Taxes – Article 110 TFEU
- Charges are more direct, taxes are more subtle
- Tax exists for legitimate economic and social purposes
o Case 243/84 Johnnie Walker EU:C:1986:100
- Art 110 TFEU essentially permissive
- (1) – Similar goods
o Where there are two similar products (one internal, one external) member
states cannot impose any internal taxation in excess of that imposed on
similar domestic products
o Are the products similar; is the taxation discriminatory?
Two part test for ‘similar goods’
Case 106/84 Commission v Denmark (Cherry Wine)
EU:C:1986:99
o Both have ‘thirst quenching properties’
o Factually and economically similar
Factual
o Do the products share certain objective characteristics?
Economic Analysis
o Are the products capable of meeting the same need
from the point of the consumers?
Light v dark tobacco
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