Free Movement of Goods and Property Law

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.