Internal Market & Free Movement of Goods

name the 4 sequential stages of economic integration defined by EU law

1. free trade area: abolition of internal customs duties; states set independent external tariffs

2. Article 28 TFEU: customs union: free trade area + a Common external tariff for third countries

3. Article 26 TFEU: internal market: customs union + free movement of the 4 factors of production (goods, persons, services, capital)

4. Article 119-144 TFEU: economic union: internal market + unification of economic/monetary policies

what is the legal definition of ‘goods’ under Commission vs Italy (Italian Art)

• tangible objects which can be valued in money & which are capable of forming the subject of commercial transactions

• eg electricity, waste, medication, food

define quantitative restrictions (QRs) & measures having equivalent effect (MEQRs) using case law

• Articles 34&35 TFEU: QRs (Geddo): total or partial restraints on imports/exports (absolute bans or quotas)

• MEQRs (Dassonville): all trading rules enacted by a member state which are capable of hindering, directly or indirectly, actually or potentially, intra-EU trade

What is the difference between distinctly and indistinctly applicable MEQRs?

• distinctly: expressly discriminatory rules that treat imports less favourably than domestic products → they can only be justified under the narrow, written exceptions of Article 36 TFEU

• indistinctly: rules that apply equally to domestic & imported goods on paper, but burden imports in practice → they can be justified by judicially recognised mandatory requirements (‘rule of reason’)

  • eg minimum alcohol requirements in Cassis de Dijon

What are the two core principles established by Cassis de Dijon?

1. mutual recognition: any product lawfully produced & marketed in one Member State must, as a rule, be admitted to all other Member States

2. rule of reason: any indistinctly applicable measure can be justified if it is necessary to satisfy mandatory requirements (eg public health) & is proportionate

What distinction did the CJEU make in Keck and Mithouard to limit the scope of Dassonville?

it distinguished between

• product characteristics: rules on packaging, size, labelling, etc → these are automatically caught as MEQRs under Article 34 TFEU

• selling arrangements: rules on how, when, or where goods are sold → these are not MEQRs, provided they apply to all traders & don’t discriminate in law or fact between domestic & imported products

Give examples of cases showing that the fundamental freedoms can have horizontal direct effect (apply to private parties)

1. Angonese (article 45, free movement of workers applies to conditions fixed by private employers

2. Viking Line (freedom of establishment applies to collective industrial action by private trade unions)

3. Fra.bo (free movement of goods applies to private certification body whose standards effectively restrict market access)

Contrast "Negative Integration" with "Positive Integration".

• negative: deregulatory → strikes down national trade barriers through the courts utilising Treaty freedoms & non-discrimination principles

• positive: regulatory → creates uniform, EU-wide legislation (eg via article 114 TFEU) to construct a harmonious regulatory framework

Why can Negative Integration and Competitive Federalism spark a regulatory "race to the bottom"?

• negative integration & mutual recognition mean industries can move production to the Member State with the most relaxed laws to cut compliance costs

• to protect local industries, other governments face intense lobbying to relax their own consumer or environmental laws, sparking a deregulatory race to the bottom

• positive integration (harmonisation) acts as a legal brake on this trend