European Business Law, the fourth volume in our series, shows how the European authorities simultaneously abolish all restrictions on access to and exercise of economic activities and support the growth of domestic markets, through the harmonization the internal legislation or the enactment of genuinely unified regulations.

European Business Law

Transit is defined as the transportation of goods from one customs office to another, through one or more Member States or portion of territory, without being placed on the market in the transit State. Transit, which does not involve any placement on the market, does not allow the transit State to retain goods lawfully manufactured in a Member State and intended to be placed on the market in a non …

External and internal transit

Transit is defined as the transportation of goods from one customs office to another, through one or more Member States or portion of territory, without being placed on the market in the transit State. Transit, which does not involve any placement on the market, does not allow the transit State to retain goods lawfully manufactured in a Member State and intended to be placed on the market in a non-member country . The customs union characterized by the free movement of goods entails the freedom of European transit . 

The Union Customs Code distinguishes two forms of European transit: external or internal transit. External transit concerns non-Union goods which move from one point to another within the customs territory of the Union without such goods being subject to import duties and other charges or to commercial policy measures (Union Customs Code, Article 226). Thus, a trade mark proprietor cannot prohibit the transit of goods placed under the external transit procedure through a Member State in which that mark is protected to another Member State where the mark is not protected, unless the goods are being put on the market in the Member State of transit . The external transit procedure is based on a legal fiction according to which goods imported from a non-member country go through one or more Member States before being exported to another non-member country as if they had not entered European territory . A single administrative document (SAD), used for trade with non-member countries and for movements of non-Union goods within the EU, allows the goods to cross various States without new formalities before reaching their final destination.

Internal transit allows the movement of Union goods from one point to another within the customs territory of the Union passing through the territory of a non-member country without any change in their customs status (Customs Code, Article 227). 

Although each Member State must ensure the free movement of goods by taking the necessary and appropriate measures to prevent any obstacle due to action from individuals for acts merely relating to the transit of goods , Article 36 TFEU authorizes prohibitions or restrictions on transit on grounds of public morality, public policy, public security, the protection of health and life of humans, animals or plants, the protection of national treasures possessing artistic, historic or archaeological value, or the protection of industrial and commercial property. 

Case C-23/99 Commission v France [2000] ECR I-7653, LawLex200500004918JBJ; Case C-115/02 Rioglass and Transremar [2003] ECR I-12705), LawLex200500005294JBJ.

Case 266/81 SIOT v Ministero delle finanze [1983] ECR 731, LawLex200900001791JBJ. EU transit is distinguished from common transit between EU and EFTA countries, even if the rules are identical: See Convention of 20 May 1987 on a common transit procedure, OJ L 226 of 13 August 1987, 2. A Member State cannot prohibit certain carriers from using one of the principal land transport routes between two Member States: Case C-28/09 Commission v Austria [2011] ECR p. I-13525, LawLex201200000618JBJ.

Case C-281/05 Montex Holdings [2006] ECR I-10881, LawLex200900001377JBJ.

Case C-383/98 Polo/Lauren [2000] ECR I-2519, LawLex200700001641JBJ.

Case C-112/00 Schmidberger [2003] ECR I-5659, LawLex200900000377JBJ.

European Business Law

14. External and internal transit

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

14. External and internal transit

Demandez un accès gratuit au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

Demandez un accès gratuit
au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise