14. Free Movement of Goods II

Abstract

This chapter examines the constitutional principles governing positive integration. It begins by analysing the scope and nature of the two general internal market competence(s): Articles 114 and 115 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The European Union has an—almost—unlimited competence to harmonize national laws that affect the establishment or functioning of the internal market. The chapter then looks at the more limited special competences given to the Union in Articles 113 and 118. It also investigates how the Union can use its internal market competences via distinct harmonization methods. Finally, the chapter offers an excursion into a particular, yet fundamentally important, aspect of positive integration in the internal market: the Common Agricultural Policy.