1.
INTRODUCTION TO EUROPEAN
COMMERCIAL LAW
Prof. Dr. Justin Monsenepwo

2.
 The European Union (EU) is an economic trading
bloc comprising 27 nations.
 The Member States are (in order of accession):
Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France,
Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Ireland,
Denmark, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Austria,
Finland, Sweden, Czech, Republic, Estonia,
Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland,
Slovenia, Slovak Republic, Bulgaria and Romania.
 The EU is one of the world’s most important
trading entities.

3.
Contents of the Class
1. Political Institutions of the European Union (Commission, European Council, …)..
2. Free Movement of Goods (Rules of Origin, Elimination of Quantitative Restrictions
Between, Member States, …).
3. Free Movement of Persons and Services
4. Free Movement of Cap
5. Commercial Law and Policy
6. Competition Law

4.
A. Basic Policies of the European Union
 The Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
(TFEU): founding Treaties of the European Union.
 Court has described the TFEU as the “constitutional charter” of the Community (Kadi v Commission
(C-402/05 P) [2008] ECR I-6351 at [81]; [2008] 3 CMLR 41 (p 1207)).
 The Treaties require that Member States operate in conformity with the principle of “an open market
economy with free competition” (Art 120 TFEU).
 The EU constitutes:
a) An internal market;
b) A customs union;
c) A monetary union.
 The EU constitutes an internal market (Art 3(3) TEU): “an area without internal frontiers in which
the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured” (Art 26(2) TFEU).

5.
A. Basic Policies of the European Union
 The TFEU requires the implementation of four fundamental freedoms, namely
abolition as between the Member States of obstacles to the freedom of movement of
goods, persons, services and capital (Arts 21(1), 28, 45, 56, 63 TFEU).
 The freedom of EU nationals to establish a business in another Member State is also
guaranteed (Art 49 TFEU).
 Some characteristics of the single market:
 no border controls concerning goods at the internal frontiers between EU Member States;
 no controls on persons at these internal frontiers (Arts 67(2), 77(1) TFEU);
 certain anti-competitive actions (anti-competitive undertakings or abuse of a dominant
market position) are prohibited as incompatible with the internal market.

6.
A. Basic Policies of the European Union
 EU as a customs union (Art 28(1)):
 elimination of customs duties and quantitative restrictions on imports and exports between
the Member States (Arts 30, 34–35 TFEU);
 establishment of a common external customs tariff applicable to trade with non-member
states (Art 28(1) TFEU)
 common commercial policy towards non-member countries (Art 207 TFEU).
 EU as a monetary union:
 Euro as its common currency (Art 3(4) TEU)
 The Euro has replaced the national currencies of sixteen EU Member States.
 States adopting the Euro must satisfy requirements as to inflation, interest rates, budget deficits, public
debt and exchange rate stability.

7.
A. Basic Policies of the European Union
 The European Union should be distinguished from the Council of Europe, which is a
separate international organization that is also devoted to European integration.
 The Council was established in 1949.
 International organization founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights,
democracy and the rule of law in Europe.

8.
B. Development of the European Union
1. Introduction
 Much detailed materials about the history of the EU: http://aei.pitt.edu/ [Archive of
European Integration].
 Origins of the European Union lie in the formation of the European Economic
Community (EEC) in 1957.
 See Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community, Rome, 25 March 1957, 298
UNTS 11; 163 BFSP 206.
 Through a series of amending treaties, the EEC became the European Community
(EC) and eventually the European Union.
 Members of the EU are also members of the European Atomic Energy Community
(Euratom), a separate international organization also established in 1957.
 Treaty Establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, Rome, 25 March 1957, 298
UNTS 167; 163 BFSP 206.

9.
B. Development of the European Union
1. Introduction
 Euratom = promotes the joint development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
 The Treaty does not apply to the employment of atomic energy for military purposes. See
Commission v United Kingdom (C-65/04) [2006] ECR I-2239 at [26].
 Before July 2002: There was a third European Community, the European Coal and
Steel Community (ECSC).
 However, the founding Treaty for that Community (the Treaty of Paris) expired on 23 July
2002.
 The original EEC, Euratom and ECSC Treaties each provided for separate
Commissions and Councils of Ministers.
 In 1965 the Member States adopted a Treaty that merged the three Commissions into
a single Commission and merged the three Councils into a single Council.

10.
B. Development of the European Union
1. Introduction
 Original members of the EEC: Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany
and Italy.
 First enlarged on 1 January 1973 with the accession of the United Kingdom, Ireland
and Denmark.
 Greece became a Member State on 1 January 1981.
 1 May 2004: Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta,
Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia.
 Bulgaria and Romania became members on 1 January 2007.
 In 2013: Croatia became a Member.

11.
B. Development of the European Union
1. Introduction
 Any European state that respects certain fundamental values may apply for
membership of the EU (Art 49 TEU).
 EU Membership is limited to European nations: On 20 July 1987 Morocco applied
for membership but was rejected on the ground that it was not a European nation.

12.
B. Development of the European Union
2. Single European Act
 By the 1980s many non-tariff barriers continued to impede the free flow of goods
within the Community.
 quantitative restrictions and measures having equivalent effect, including physical, technical
and fiscal barriers.
 In 1985 the European Commission published a landmark White Paper.
 provided for the completion of the “internal market” (Art 13).
 provided for the cooperation of the European Parliament in the legislative process of the EC.

13.
B. Development of the European Union
3. Maastricht Treaty
 In 1993 a new European body (the European Union) was formed alongside the
existing European Community.
 provided for the establishment of an Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).
 Economic Union involved the removal of exchange controls and the convergence of the economic
policies of the Member States.
 The Monetary Union required the adoption of a single European currency (the Euro) by 1999.
 Also provided for broader EU authority over the environment, health, research, culture and industrial
and social policy.
 Concept of subsidiarity according to which things which can be done better at local or regional level
should be done at that level.

14.
B. Development of the European Union
4. Treaty of Amsterdam
 In 1997 the Treaty of Amsterdam introduced many reforms of the founding Treaties.
 Under the Treaty the European Union consisted of “three pillars”: the European
Community (EC), the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Police and
Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC).

15.
B. Development of the European Union
5. Charter of Fundamental Rights
 In 2000 the EU adopted the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
 based upon the case law of the European Court of Justice regarding the protection of
fundamental rights as general principles of EU law.
• usual civil and political rights
• freedom to conduct a business (Art 16)
• right to strike and to bargain collectively (Art 28)
• and consultation rights for employees (Art 27)
• protection against unjustified dismissal (Art 30)
• paid maternity leave and parental leave (Art 23(2))
• protection of personal data (Art 8)

16.
B. Development of the European Union
6. Charter of Fundamental Rights (Cont’d)
 When the Charter was adopted, it was a non-binding instrument.
 Since the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon the Charter has become legally
binding upon the EU itself and the Member States when they implement EU law (Art
6(1) TEU; Art 51(1) Charter).
 The Charter possesses the “same legal value as the Treaties” (Art 6(1) TEU).

17.
B. Development of the European Union
7. Treaty of Nice and European Constitution
 Given the increasing number of Member States, the Treaty of Nice reduced
 New weighting of votes in the Council of Ministers was also introduced.
 Range of matters subject to qualified majority voting and co-decision were again
expanded.
 A complicated system of voting in the Council was introduced, with three different
majorities required for approval of a measure.
 In 2001 a European Convention began to draft a Constitutional Treaty for the EU.
 After agreement was reached at an Intergovernmental Conference, the Constitution was
signed by the Member States in October 2004.
 The proposed Constitution never entered into force. In June 2007 it was permanently
shelved after the failure of several governments to ratify the treaty.

18.
B. Development of the European Union
8. Treaty of Lisbon
 After the Constitution was abandoned, a new amending treaty adopted many of its
features.
 The Treaty establishing the European Community (EC) was renamed the Treaty on
the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU):
 The European Community was fully merged within the European Union (Art. 1 TEU)
 Police and Judicial Co-operation in Criminal Matters (PJCC) was replaced by an “Area of
Freedom, Security and Justice” (Art 67 TFEU).
 It came into force on 1 December 2009.

19.
Resources
 Thomas F Cusack, “A Tale of Two Treaties: An Assessment of the Euratom Treaty in Relation to the EC Treaty” (2003) 40
Common Market Law Review 117.
 Kirstyn Inglis, “The Union’s Fifth Accession Treaty: New Means to make Enlargement Possible” (2004) 41 Common Market
Law Review 937.
 Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community, Rome, 25 March 1957, 298 UNTS 11; 163 BFSP
206.
 Treaty Establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, Rome, 25 March 1957, 298 UNTS 167; 163
BFSP 206.
 Treaty Instituting the European Coal and Steel Community, Paris, 18 April 1951, 261 UNTS 140; 158 BFSP
630.
 Treaty Establishing a Single Council and a Single Commission of the European Communities, Brussels, 8
April 1965, 1348 UNTS 81; 4 ILM 776; OJ 152, 13.7.1967, p 1.
 Treaty on European Union, Maastricht, 7 February 1992, 1757 UNTS 3; 31 ILM 247; OJ C 191, 29.7.1992,
p 1.
 Treaty of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 2 October 1997, 37 ILM 56; OJ C 340, 10.11.1997, p 1.
 Treaty of Lisbon, Lisbon, 13 December 2007, OJ C 306, 17.12.2007, p 1; EC 2007 No 13 (Cm 7294).