I. GENERAL COMMENTS CONCERNING THE EU
D. The Common Market
As mentioned
above the Treaty of Rome envisages the creation
of a single market through the free movement
goods, services, persons and capital within
the Community. Each of these "four freedoms"
will be addressed briefly below:
a. The Free Movement of Goods
The objective of this "freedom"
is to establish a tariff-free union between
Member States through the abolition of customs
duties on exports and imports between them
and the adoption of a common customs tariff
towards non-Member States, and the elimination
of quantitative restrictions of imports to
and exports from the Member States. Thus,
if a U.S. company establishes a presence in
a Member State, that presence will be able
to benefit from this "freedom" instead
of being subject to a diversified range of
customs, duties and import restrictions otherwise
applicable.
"Goods" covers both
industrial and agricultural products whether
originating within Member States or coming
from third countries already in free circulation
within the Community. It also applies to Community
patents; by registering a patent within a
Member State, its registration is deemed to
have been made within all Member States.
b. The Free Movement of
Services
This "freedom"
consists of no restriction policy on the movement
of services within Member States. Services
include insurance, banking and other financial
services, legal services, accounting services,
etc. To this end, directives have already
been enacted in relation to investments, insurance,
banking and financial and legal services.
However, given that each Member
State is free to choose its method of implementation
of the directive, substantial differences
in application exist to date although it is
envisaged that the differences will gradually
disappear over time.
c. The Free Movement of
Persons
This "freedom"
has substantial social importance within the
Community. It establishes the rights of nationals
of Member States and certain members of their
family to move and establish themselves freely
within the Member States. The freedom includes
the rights to employment (with current exemptions
in relation to employment in Public Service)
under the non-discrimination principle : it
namely involves the right to benefit from
any social advantage initially reserved to
the Nationals.
d. The Free Movement of
Capital
It is probably obvious that
for there to be an unified market place there
must be a free movement of capital. In this
respect, this freedom envisages the abolition
of restrictions of capital flows within the
community.
In summary, the Union offers
its Member States as well as all entities
and individuals established within it, very
substantial benefits. The purpose of the Union,
which is to create an Economic and Monetary
Union, is motivated by the desire to obtain
a competitive advantage toward non-Member
States and individuals.
e. The "Schengen"
Agreements ("Accords de Schengen")
The application of the four
freedoms mentioned above involves the suppression
of the controls at the interior frontiers
of the European Member States. As a result,
the controls must be transferred to the external
frontiers of the EU, accompanied by common
rules concerning for instance drugs, weapons
..
The Schengen Agreement, dated
June 19, 1990, has been signed between some
of the Member States in order to solve these
difficulties. United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark,
Sweden, Austria and Finland are still not
signatories of the Agreement, whereas Greece
and Italy do not comply yet with all of its
conditions.
As a matter of fact, the Member
States chose not to act under the authority
of the EU. However, the Schengen Agreement
has to comply with the regulations of the
EU Treaties (Treaty of Rome, Treaty of Maastricht,
...)
The Agreement provides for the
lifting of the controls of the interior frontiers,
the harmonization of the rules concerning
the entry and the circulation of persons and
goods within the EU, the right of sanctuary
...
It establishes a judiciary
and Police cooperation among the Member States
as well as an exchange of information ("Schengen
Information System").
