Freedom of Goods
Problem Question – You think is about Goods.
This relates to the freedom of goods because the subject matter of the questions is goods. The definition is provided in Commission v Italy:
By goods…there must be understood product which can be valued in money and which are capable, as such, of forming the subject of commercial transactions.
It must be valuable and capable of selling:
Tobacco – Commission v Parliamant & Council
Porn – Henn and Darby
Art – Commission v Italy
And some not so obvious examples:
Electricity – PressuenElecktra
Bees – Ditlev Bluhme
Goods or…?
Example – Schindler Case – UK prohibition of the marketing of lottery tickets in the UK – German co organised the tickets selling in the UK. UK said they had a total ban already. Did this amount to a prohibition of goods/services. The court said this falls in the scope of 49 – services. You need to ask your aim? The lottery ticket doesn’t have a value; it only has value to take part in a draw. So the service is the draw.
The ban of advertising is both on goods and services –
D’agostini – the selling of magazines
Le GeMere - the selling alcohol
The courts prefer to take one approach of the freedoms. The courts didn’t choose in these courts using just one fundamental freedom but both freedoms.
Provision of the Freedom of Goods
Customs Duties
Discriminatory Taxation
Quantitive Restrictions
Goods must circulate freely between MS. There are two category of goods that benefit: goods which originate within the EU (manufactured within MS) and goods are in free circulation within the EU, provided however the external custom tariff has been paid. This can been seen in art 24 EC and in the case of Donkelworke.
We can broadly define the provisions in the EC treaty in two category: fiscal barriers to trade and non fiscal barriers to trade. Non Fiscal Barriers are rules such as labelling requirements etc, they don’t...