''Rewe-Zentral AG v Bundesmonopolverwaltung für Branntwein'' (1979) Case C-120/78, popularly known as Cassis de Dijon after its subject matter, is an EU law decision of the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ), officially the Court of Justice (), is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union, it is tasked with interpreting ...

. The case is a seminal judicial interpretation of article 34 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It established the EU principle of mutual recognition for goods. The Court held that a regulation applying to both imported and to domestic goods (an "indistinctly applicable measure") that produces an effect equivalent to a quantitative import restriction is an unlawful restriction on the free movement of goods. In the same ruling, the Court established the so-called ''rule of reason'', allowing non-discriminatory restrictive measures to be justified on grounds other than those listed in article 36 TFEU.

Facts

Rewe, a large German retail company, wanted to import and sell Cassis de Dijon, a '' crème de cassis'' blackcurrant liqueur produced in France. The liqueur contained between 15 and 20 per cent

alcohol by volume Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of Alcohol (drug), alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest ...

(ABV). Germany, however, had a law specifying that products sold as fruit liqueurs be over 25 per cent ABV. The ''Bundesmonopolverwaltung für Branntwein'' (Federal Monopoly Administration for Spirits), part of the Federal Ministry of Finance, informed Rewe that it would not be able to market Cassis in Germany as a liqueur. Rewe challenged the decision as a breach of European law, specifically of Article 30 Treaty of Rome (TEC).

Judgment

The ECJ held that the German legislation represented a measure having an effect equivalent to a quantitative restriction on imports and was thus in breach of article 34 of the Treaty:

Significance

In 2010,

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

unilaterally adopted this principle: generally, goods that can be lawfully produced or marketed according to standards applying in the European Union can also be lawfully produced or marketed in Switzerland or imported from the EU into Switzerland.Neue Zürcher Zeitung
Erleichterte EU-Importe
20 May 2010.

Notes

References

* Kai Purnhagen The Virtue of Cassis de Dijon 25 Years Later – It is Not Dead, it just Smells Funny, in: Varieties of European Economic Law and Regulation, hrsg. Kai Purnhagen, Peter Rott, New York, Heidelberg, Dordrecht u.a.: Springer, 2014, 315–342, * * * Brettschneider, Jörg, Das Herkunftslandprinzip und mögliche Alternativen aus ökonomischer Sicht, Auswirkungen auf und Bedeutung für den Systemwettbewerb, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2015, .

External links

* * {{Italic title 1979 in case law 1979 in West Germany Alcohol law in Germany European Union goods case law France–Germany relations European Union competition case law