Lecture Two- Week 2 EU Law The Internal Market of the EU and Introduction to the Free movement of Goods The Internal Market of the EU ? "The single market refers to the EU as one territory without any internal borders or other regulatory obstacles to the free movement of goods and services. A functioning single market stimulates competition and trade, improves efficiency, raises quality, and helps cut prices. The European single market is one of the EU's greatest achievements. It has fuelled economic growth and made the everyday life of European businesses and consumers easier." The single market strategy ? "The single market strategy is the European Commission's plan to unlock the full potential of the single market. The single market is at the heart of the European project, enabling people, services, goods and capital to move more freely, offering opportunities for European businesses and greater choice and lower prices for consumers. It enables citizens to travel, live, work or study wherever they wish. ? But sometimes, these benefits do not materialise because single market rules are not known or implemented or they are undermined by other barriers." Gross domestic product ? Country 2020 ($$ millions) ? China 14,722,730 ? United States 20,893,746 ? European Union 15,292,101 Some Stages of Integration ? Free Trade Area (FTA)-MS remove all barriers to free movement of goods between MSs but each state retains ability to regulate its trade with non-MS ? Customs Union (CU)-FTA + Common policy for non-MS (i.e. Single customs tariff) ? Common Market (CM)-CU + Free movement of persons, services and capital ? Economic Union-CM + single currency ? Full Union-complete unification of the economies and common policy on social security, income tax etc. (From Barnard, Substantive Law of the EU) ? Common market- main ingredients that you need for the market to work, need people services, workers and money ? Economic union- single currency- if you keep going down this path you could create a union that only uses one currency Where is the EU now ??? ? Art 26 and 28-32 TFEU indicate that a customs union is established having a common customs tariff. - There are still a number of obstacles to a true common market as evidenced by cases on this topic, however 19 countries (more than half) have established a monetary union. Internal market - The SEA changed the term "common market" to "internal market" ? Many measures subsequently adopted to bring the national markets of all the MS into one economic area without internal frontiers ? What barriers exist to the establishment of a single market ?? Removal of barriers
Lecture Two- Week 2 EU Law ? Physical barriers - Technical barriers - Fiscal Barriers ? Let's see what the White Paper on the completion of the Internal Market, 14 June 1985 had to say about barriers .... Removal of Physical Barriers ? "Customs posts, immigration controls, passports, occasional search of personal baggage- obvious manifestations to the ordinary citizen of continued division of