European Law Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

European Law Assignment - Essay Example The consignment of jam is clearly â€Å"goods† for the purposes of the Treaty and as the case of SIOT v Ministry of Finance 2asserted; freedom of movement and transit within the Community constitutes a prima facie fundamental of community law. Furthermore, the Article 28 provision is also intended to ensure non-discrimination between domestic and foreign products of Member States3. Furthermore, Article 30 (ex 25) formally abolishes customs duties and any other charges having equivalent effect and provides that: â€Å"Member states shall refrain from introducing between themselves any customs duties on imports and exports or any charges having equivalent effect, and from increasing those which they already apply in their trade with each other4† If France’s restrictions on Jessica’s exports are found to be in breach of Article 30, Jessica will only have recourse under EU law if Article 25 has â€Å"direct effect5†. The case of Francovich v. ... lity of Article 30 and â€Å"measures of equivalent effect† was considered in the leading case of Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen9, where the ECJ asserted that Article 12 (now 30) had direct effect. As such, the Treaty provisions were required to be applied by national courts as domestic law. Accordingly, Article 30 can be invoked before national courts and is applicable as national law in the EU member states. Therefore, in the current scenario, Jessica can invoke the Article 30 rights against France and each of the other territories imposing restrictions as members of the EU. Furthermore, it is also important to mention that EC case law has established that Treaty provisions have direct effect and direct applicability giving nationals rights under the Treaty provisions in national law10. Accordingly, Jessica may under Article 30 claim that France has breached EU law and the next issue is to determine what constitutes a breach for the purpose of A rticle 30. The fee imposed by France is imposed by the customs department for the purpose of testing suitability of the consignment for the French market. Although the fee being charged by France is not expressed in terms of being a customs duty, it could still be illegal under Article 30 for being a â€Å"measure of equivalent effect†. In considering the definition of measures of equivalent effect, the ECJ held in the Re Statistical Levy case, Commission v. Italy 11that the term â€Å"charges of equivalent effect† was: â€Å"any pecuniary charge, however small and whatever its designation and mode of application, which imposed unilaterally on domestic and foreign goods by reason of the fact that they cross a frontier, and which is not a customs duty in the strict sense, constitutes a charge†¦. even if