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

Since the Union industry is defined through its producers and their products, it is necessary to specify the concept of production originating in the Union.
According to the Union Customs Code (Art. 60), goods originating in a country are those wholly obtained in that country  or, when more than one country is involved in the production, those whose latest substantial processing took place in that …

Production originating in Europe

Since the Union industry is defined through its producers and their products, it is necessary to specify the concept of production originating in the Union.

According to the Union Customs Code (Art. 60), goods originating in a country are those wholly obtained in that country  or, when more than one country is involved in the production, those whose latest substantial processing took place in that country. According to the Court of Justice , determining the origin of the goods must be based on an objective and real distinction between the basic product and the processed product depending fundamentally on the specific material qualities of each of those products. The last processing is substantial if the resulting product has its own specific properties and composition, which it did not possess before that processing. This is not the case for activities altering the presentation of a product for the purposes of its use, but which do not bring about a significant qualitative change in its properties . Thus, mere assembly operations cannot be considered as genuine Union production where the assembly process has a limited added value . On the other hand, products produced mainly from components sourced in the Union and which add substantial value in the manufacturing process , processed from a raw material originating in a third country, for which the manufacturing and sales operations, and the technological and capital investment take place in the Union  or the level of local content is high , have a Union origin. 

Regulation No 952/2013 of 9 October 2013, OJ  L 269 of 10 October 2013, 1, entered into force on 1 May 2016. Commission Delegated Regulation No 2015/2446 of 28 July 2015 provides a list of those goods in Article 31: "The following goods shall be considered as wholly obtained in a single country or territory: (a) mineral products extracted within that country or territory; (b) vegetable products harvested there;(c) live animals born and raised there; (d) products derived from live animals raised there; (e) products of hunting or fishing carried on there; (f) products of sea fishing and other products taken by vessels registered in the country or territory concerned and flying the flag of that country or territory from the sea outside any country’s territorial waters; (g) goods obtained or produced on board factory ships from the products referred to in point (f) originating in that country or territory, provided that such factory ships are registered in that country or territory and fly its flag; (h) products taken from the seabed or subsoil beneath the seabed outside the territorial waters provided that that country or territory has exclusive rights to exploit that seabed or subsoil; (i) waste and scrap products derived from manufacturing operations and used articles, if they were collected there and are fit only for recovery of raw materials; (j) goods produced there exclusively from products specified in points (a) to (i).

See, inter alia, Case C-260/08 HEKO Industrieerzeugnisse [2009] ECR I-11571.

Case C-373/08 Hoesch Metals and Alloys [2010] ECR I-951, LawLex201100000405JBJ, which specifies to what extent operations of product purification and crushing are a substantial processing or working.

Council Regulation (EU) No 2042/2000 of 26 September 2000, imports of television camera systems (Japan), LawLex200900002579JBJ; Commission Decision No 98/19 of 6 January 1998, imports of video tapes in cassettes (Hong-Kong, Korea), LawLex201100000599JBJ.

Council Regulation (EU) No 312/2002 of 18 February 2002, imports of certain magnetic disks (Japan, China, Taiwan), LawLex200900002593JBJ.

Commission Regulation (EC) No 781/2003 of 7 May 2003, imports of furfuryl alcohol (China), LawLex200900002753JBJ.

Commission Regulation (EC) No 2684/88 of 26 August 1988, imports of video cassette recorders (Japan, Korea), LawLex200900002675JBJ.

European Business Law

426. Production originating in Europe

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

Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

426. Production originating in Europe

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