Maximum harmonisation is a term used in
EU law
European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its val ...
.
If a piece of law (usually a
directive but occasionally also a
regulation
Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...
) is described as maximum harmonisation, national law may not exceed the terms of the legislation.
In practice, that prohibits
gold-plating of EU legislation when it is transposed into national law.
It may also result in the repeal or amendment of existing national law, such as the effect of the
Unfair Commercial Practices Directive
The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/ECOfficial Journal of the European Union, L149/22 – L149/39, 11 June 2005 regulates unfair business practices in EU law, as part of European consumer law. It requires corresponding laws to b ...
on the British
Trade Descriptions Act 1968
The Trade Descriptions Act 1968 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which prevents manufacturers, retailers or service industry providers from misleading consumers as to what they are spending their money on.
This law empowers t ...
.
Traditionally it was fairly uncommon for European legislation to be drafted on such a basis. However,
deregulation has risen in the political agenda in the EU, as have concerns that member states occasionally use the national implementation of EU law as an opportunity to indulge in backdoor
protectionism
Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulatio ...
.
It is quite common for a directive or recommendation to consist of a mixture of maximum harmonisation and
minimum harmonisation clauses.
References
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European Union law