Free Movement of Goods and Property Law
Maastricht European Private Law Institute (M-EPLI) Working Paper 26/2011
European Law Journal, Forthcoming
29 Pages Posted: 29 May 2010 Last revised: 22 Jun 2011
Date Written: May 28, 2011
Abstract
In the EU there is an internal market in which there is free movement of goods. The effects of internal market law are very wide because of the focus on economic integration. Every aspect of national law is potentially subject to the influence of EU law. This includes the application of internal market law to areas of property law that is usually considered a purely national competence. In the area of movable property law – surprisingly – there have been no actual cases. When a property right is created in one Member State and the object on which it was created is moved to another Member State, the rules of private international law in combination with the application of national property law, which adheres to a closed system of property rights, will result in a loss of right. This is a substantial hindrance to intra-Union trade. Recent developments in the case law on the free movement of goods merit renewed attention to these types of fact patterns. With a market access test, our argument of application of EU law becomes stronger. The ECJ might pass judgment on private international law and national property law advancing the creation of a European property law.
Keywords: European Property Law, Free Movement of Goods, (mutual) recognition of property rights
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