EC Trade Law - Common Commercial Policy - Coursework Example

These articles constitute the most important provision of the free movement of goods because they remove technical barriers.In the Procureur du Roi v. Benoit and Gustave Dassonvile1, Rewe – Zentral (Cassis de Dijon)2 the German authorities prevented the import of wine from France on the grounds that the wine’s alcohol content was too low. In this case, as well the Allmanna Aklagaren v. Harry Franzen3 case the court held if the free movement of goods was hindered by the Member States’ commercial stipulations, then Article 28 EC limits such stipulations because they constitute limitations on the Common Market.

These cases are examples of state monopolies in commercial transactions and serve to illustrate the fact that hindering the import of products that have been manufactured as per the laws of the Member State from which they originate, is a violation of the EC Law.In Commission of the European Communities v. the Italian Republic,4 the Italian Government made unsubstantiated accusations against a specific caffeinated beverage, stating that it contained more caffeine than was permissible and accordingly limited its import.

The court held that the Italian Republic had failed to discharge its duties under Articles 28 and 30 EC. A similar judgment was delivered in Commission v. Germany5 and Commission v. Belgium6.The principle of mutual recognition generally occurs if Member States do not accept the goods that have been tested and found satisfactory by an EC appointed authority. Hungary banned the import of turkeys from the United Kingdom and simultaneously commenced a publicity campaign wherein it declared that Hungarian turkeys were the best.

This clearly indicates that Hungary had violated the principle of mutual recognition.The United Kingdom had implemented through DEFRA, a system whereby all poultry had to be checked and certified to be free of the virus before they could be transferred to some other place.