European law report - Boost across borders
Most of us are aware that one of the main advantages of EU membership is being able to partake of the benefits accruing from a single market. However, barriers to trade still exist, even within a borderless Europe. An internal market should be...
Most of us are aware that one of the main advantages of EU membership is being able to partake of the benefits accruing from a single market. However, barriers to trade still exist, even within a borderless Europe. An internal market should be synonymous with the free flow of trade from one state to another. Nonetheless, realistically speaking, EU traders often find it very difficult to sell into another EU country and face a number of obstacles in practice.
For example, the different member states have their own rules on size, weight, labelling and packaging. Such divergent rules can indeed make it unprofitable and unpractical for firms to sell their goods in another country. Adapting products for another market can require re-tooling a production line, using translators or having extra tests done on a product.
All this means money, with the result that most small and medium-sized enterprises are actually discouraged from exploiting markets in other EU member states.
What is perhaps even more discouraging is the fact that most member states simply impede imports from other EU states of specific products which are not the subject of EU harmonised rules on the basis that they do not meet particular technical national standards.
Well, all this is set to change. More choice for consumers and less bureaucracy for traders are the main objectives of a number of legislative measures recently approved by the European Parliament.
The current procedures laid down in the Customs Code have now been simplified. A centralised electronic clearance system has been created which enables exporters to pay all their customs duties at the place where they are established, irrespective of the member state with which goods are being traded. All the necessary customs and sanitary controls will also be performed in one single place at the same time.
Simultaneously, the European Parliament approved a number of legislative measures aimed at reinforcing the "mutual recognition" of national quality standards on goods marketed within the EU. This principle of "mutual recognition", whereby products legally sold in one country should be accepted in all other member states, is not alien to the Community. Indeed, originally established by the European Court of Justice, it has been accepted as a Community principle regulating the free movement of goods for quite some time. Nonetheless, to date, member states still come up with a number of protectionist measures in order to prevent the free entry of goods into their territory. Thus, by way of example, despite the fact that a product is already legitimately sold on the market of one member state, another member state may refuse the importation of that same product unless it undergoes extensive additional testing.
The new rules now provide that companies wanting to export to another member state would no longer be required to carry out costly tests to prove that their products comply with the destination country's rules and standards. The quality and safety standards of goods produced in one EU member state must be sufficient to allow their sale throughout the EU. National authorities will bear the cost of demonstrating that a product is unsafe if they wish to remove it from their market. Furthermore, national authorities are obliged to give detailed objective reasons to the manufacturer, thus granting the latter an opportunity to react, before the final refusal to allow a product on the national market.
Product Contact Points will also be established in all member states. Such Contact Points will provide information on national technical rules, so that enterprises, in particular SMEs, can obtain reliable and precise information about the law in force in the member state where they intend to sell their products.
The consumer also stands to gain from these new rules. Besides having a greater choice, these rules also offer a high level of product quality and safety. In particular, improved market surveillance rules, which ensure that unsafe products are removed from the EU market, have been introduced. An accreditation system for European conformity assessment bodies to enhance the credibility of CE marking has also been established.
The coming into force of these proposed rules in 2009 will surely signify the strengthening of one of the cornerstones of the EU's internal market, namely the free movement of goods. A huge milestone would have been reached, ensuring that the benefits of forming part of an internal market are indeed accrued by both traders and consumers alike!
• Dr Vella Cardona is a freelance consultant in EU, intellectual property and competition law. She is also a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta.
For example, the different member states have their own rules on size, weight, labelling and packaging. Such divergent rules can indeed make it unprofitable and unpractical for firms to sell their goods in another country. Adapting products for another market can require re-tooling a production line, using translators or having extra tests done on a product.
All this means money, with the result that most small and medium-sized enterprises are actually discouraged from exploiting markets in other EU member states.
What is perhaps even more discouraging is the fact that most member states simply impede imports from other EU states of specific products which are not the subject of EU harmonised rules on the basis that they do not meet particular technical national standards.
Well, all this is set to change. More choice for consumers and less bureaucracy for traders are the main objectives of a number of legislative measures recently approved by the European Parliament.
The current procedures laid down in the Customs Code have now been simplified. A centralised electronic clearance system has been created which enables exporters to pay all their customs duties at the place where they are established, irrespective of the member state with which goods are being traded. All the necessary customs and sanitary controls will also be performed in one single place at the same time.
Simultaneously, the European Parliament approved a number of legislative measures aimed at reinforcing the "mutual recognition" of national quality standards on goods marketed within the EU. This principle of "mutual recognition", whereby products legally sold in one country should be accepted in all other member states, is not alien to the Community. Indeed, originally established by the European Court of Justice, it has been accepted as a Community principle regulating the free movement of goods for quite some time. Nonetheless, to date, member states still come up with a number of protectionist measures in order to prevent the free entry of goods into their territory. Thus, by way of example, despite the fact that a product is already legitimately sold on the market of one member state, another member state may refuse the importation of that same product unless it undergoes extensive additional testing.
The new rules now provide that companies wanting to export to another member state would no longer be required to carry out costly tests to prove that their products comply with the destination country's rules and standards. The quality and safety standards of goods produced in one EU member state must be sufficient to allow their sale throughout the EU. National authorities will bear the cost of demonstrating that a product is unsafe if they wish to remove it from their market. Furthermore, national authorities are obliged to give detailed objective reasons to the manufacturer, thus granting the latter an opportunity to react, before the final refusal to allow a product on the national market.
Product Contact Points will also be established in all member states. Such Contact Points will provide information on national technical rules, so that enterprises, in particular SMEs, can obtain reliable and precise information about the law in force in the member state where they intend to sell their products.
The consumer also stands to gain from these new rules. Besides having a greater choice, these rules also offer a high level of product quality and safety. In particular, improved market surveillance rules, which ensure that unsafe products are removed from the EU market, have been introduced. An accreditation system for European conformity assessment bodies to enhance the credibility of CE marking has also been established.
The coming into force of these proposed rules in 2009 will surely signify the strengthening of one of the cornerstones of the EU's internal market, namely the free movement of goods. A huge milestone would have been reached, ensuring that the benefits of forming part of an internal market are indeed accrued by both traders and consumers alike!
• Dr Vella Cardona is a freelance consultant in EU, intellectual property and competition law. She is also a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta.