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Fundamental Freedoms, Fundamental Rights, and the Scope of Free Movement Law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

Francesco de Cecco

Abstract

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The relation between internal market freedoms (the so-called “fundamental freedoms”) and fundamental rights is a recurring question in EU law. In recent years, after rulings such as Schmidberger, Omega, Viking, and Laval, attempts to provide a framework for approaching and resolving clashes between fundamental freedoms and fundamental rights have acquired a special urgency. Less attention, however, has been devoted to capturing the different nature of fundamental freedoms and fundamental rights, and to evaluating the implications of the choice whether or not to include fundamental freedoms in the same category as fundamental rights. The dominant focus in the literature is on what happens when free movement and fundamental rights pull in different directions. Yet, the question of whether fundamental freedoms should be regarded as fundamental rights also deserves close scrutiny. It is especially important to understand the implications of this classification since the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights appears to treat some, but not all, fundamental freedoms as fundamental rights. In particular, the Charter seems to regard the free movement of persons and services as fundamental rights, but not the free movement of goods or the free movement of capital. A similar approach is exhibited in the case law: While the Court recognizes the fundamental rights character of free movement of persons, it does not appear to extend that characterization to the entirety of free movement law. This article attempts to make sense of this dichotomy by relying on an account of fundamental rights that adopts a non-instrumental focus on the right-holder. It argues that certain free movement provisions, namely the free movement of goods and capital, cannot be characterized as fundamental rights because they are inherently instrumental—they are a means to the internal market end. By contrast, the other free movement provisions appear to match the account of fundamental rights adopted here. As this article aims to show, the classification of certain, or all, fundamental freedoms as fundamental rights is a question that affects the interpretation of the scope of the free movement provisions. Moreover, as will be seen, the question is closely related to the debate on the convergence between the free movement provisions, and on the persistence of the “wholly internal rule,” the rule that requires a cross-border connection to trigger the application of free movement law.

Type
Articles
Information
German Law Journal , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , 01 May 2014 , pp. 383 - 406
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 by German Law Journal GbR 

References

1 The term “fundamental freedoms” captures the EU internal market freedoms enshrined in the provisions on free movement of goods, free movement of persons, services, and capital in Title II and IV of Part Three (“Union Policies and Internal Actions”) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Consolidated Version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, pt. 3, tit. II & IV, Mar. 30, 2010, 2010 O.J. (C 83) 47 [hereinafter TFEU].Google Scholar

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42 UNCTEF v. Heylens, CJEU Case 222/86, 1987 E.C.R. 4097, para. 14.Google Scholar

43 Namely, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese versions. It is possible to infer that if the Court had wished to emphasize the “fundamental rights” status of the “Community rights” at issue, those language versions would have paid greater attention to that—not insignificant—detail.Google Scholar

44 A fact that is confirmed by the absence of any reference to fundamental rights in all the instances in which the Court has subsequently relied on paragraph 64 of Dounias. Google Scholar

45 Indeed, some influential views reject the presence of a dichotomy. Advocate General Trstenjak suggested that “the relationship between fundamental freedoms and fundamental rights is characterised by a broad convergence both in terms of structure and content.” Opinion of Advocate General Trstenjak at para. 187, Comm'n v. Germany, CJEU Case C-271/08 (July 15, 2010), http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=84096&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=789688. See also, Skouris, Vassilios, Fundamental Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: The Challenge of Striking a Delicate Balance, 17 Eur. Bus. L. Rev. 225 (2006). Note, however, that neither of these views are—necessarily—reflective of the Court's approach.Google Scholar

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81 Alongside direct and indirect discrimination, the Court now applies a broad “restrictions” test. See, e.g., Klaus Konle v. Republik Österreich, CJEU Case C-302/97, 1999 E.C.R. I-3099; Comm'n v. Germany, CJEU Case C-112/05, 2007 E.C.R. I-8995; Staatssecretaris van Financiën v. Orange European Smallcap Fund NV, CJEU Case C-194/06, 2008 E.C.R. I-3747. See, Snell, Jukka, Free Movement of Capital: Evolution as a Non-Linear Process, in The Evolution of EU Law 547 (Paul Craig & Gráinne de Búrca eds., 2011).Google Scholar

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86 See, O'Leary, Siofra, The Past, Present and Future of the Purely Internal Rule, in Empowerment and Disempowerment of the European Citizen (Michael Dougan, Niamh Nic Shuibhne & Eleanor Spaventa eds., 2012).Google Scholar

87 Ruiz Zambrano v. Office National de l'Emploi, CJEU Case C-34/09, 2011 E.C.R. I-1177.Google Scholar

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90 Reynolds, Stephanie, Exploring the “Intrinsic Connection” Between Free Movement and the Genuine Enjoyment Test: Reflections on EU Citizenship after Iida, 35 Eur. L. Rev. 376 (2013).Google Scholar

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92 That is not to say that determining what falls within the scope of EU law is a straightforward matter.Google Scholar

93 Carbonati Apuani Srl v. Comune di Carrara, CJEU Case C-72/03, 2004 E.C.R. I-8027 [hereinafter Carbonati]. The Court's approach was partly based on the one adopted in Lancry v. Direction Générale des Souanes and Société Dindar Confort, CJEU Joined Cases C-363/93, C-407/93–C-411, 1994 E.C.R. I-3957.Google Scholar

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95 That is, because internal borders undermine in practice the integrity of the customs union.Google Scholar

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