''Procureur du Roi v Benoît and Gustave Dassonville'' (1974) Case 8/74 is an
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 ...
case of the
European Court of Justice, in which a 'distinctly applicable measure of equivalent effect' to a quantitative restriction of trade in the European Union was held to exist on a Scotch whisky imported from France.
Facts
Benoit and Dassonville claimed that their prosecution for selling
Scotch whisky without a certificate was contrary to the
TEEC article 30 (now
TFEU
The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) is one of two treaties forming the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU), the other being the Treaty on European Union (TEU). It was previously known as the Treaty Establishi ...
art 34). A Belgian law said Scotch whisky and other products that had a designation of origin could only be sold if accompanied with a
certificate of origin. Competitors had exclusive dealing arrangements with UK exporters, and so they had acquired the whisky from France. However, in France, it was impossible to obtain a certificate because French law did not require certificates. Benoit and Dassonville were accused of forging a certificate and prosecuted. In response, they challenged the legality of the certificate law, based on the rule in article 30 that there should be no quantitative restrictions on trade, or measures of equivalent effect. The Belgian authorities, the Procureur du Roi contended that because the purpose was to protect consumers, not regulate trade, the measure fell outside
TEEC article 30.
The Belgian court referred the case to the
European Court of Justice, as is permitted under
TEEC article 234 (now
TFEU
The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) is one of two treaties forming the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU), the other being the Treaty on European Union (TEU). It was previously known as the Treaty Establishi ...
art 267).
Judgment
The Court of Justice held that the requirement for a certificate in Belgian law was contrary to article 34 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
Significance
Horspool and Humphreys note that this decision could include a "huge" range of restrictions
and that the court has sought to limit the scope of the Dassonville decision, in cases such as
Cassis de Dijon, which was decided a few years later.
See also
*
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 ...
References
External links
Decision of ECJ at Europa Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Procureur du Roi v Benoit and Gustave Dassonville
1974 in case law
1974 in Belgium
European Union goods case law