The Consistency Requirement in EU Internal Market Law: Last Refuge of the Unimaginative or Legal Standard for Rational Administration?

26 Pages Posted: 30 Jul 2016 Last revised: 4 May 2021

See all articles by Wolf Sauter

Wolf Sauter

Tilburg Law and Economics Center (TILEC); Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam - Faculty of Law; Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM)

Jurian Langer

University of Amsterdam

Date Written: July 29, 2016

Abstract

Consistency is a legal requirement that is imposed by the Court of Justice on national claims to an objective justification of barriers to free movement that are based on public policy. As this requirement is seemingly used more frequently, it may be developing into a principle of EU law as such, or at least impose a standard of rational administration on the Member States. This process is traced in this paper in the areas of taxation, gambling and healthcare, along with an overview of the latest cases more generally. In addition, the principle of consistency between EU policies is discussed. At the moment there appears to be no strong link between the internal market type and the EU level type of consistency, although this may yet develop further in future.

Keywords: consistency; internal market; case law; court of justice; proportionality; rational administration; legal principle.

JEL Classification: H1; K2; K4

Suggested Citation

Sauter, Wolf and Sauter, Wolf and Langer, Jurian, The Consistency Requirement in EU Internal Market Law: Last Refuge of the Unimaginative or Legal Standard for Rational Administration? (July 29, 2016). TILEC Discussion Paper No. 2016-017, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2815893 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2815893

Wolf Sauter (Contact Author)

Tilburg Law and Economics Center (TILEC) ( email )

Warandelaan 2
Tilburg, 5000 LE
Netherlands

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam - Faculty of Law ( email )

Netherlands

Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) ( email )

PO Box 16326
2500 BH The Hague
Netherlands

Jurian Langer

University of Amsterdam ( email )

P.O.Box 1030
Amsterdam, 1000 BA
Netherlands

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