Standard Setting Organizations versus Free Movement of Goods: The <i>Fra.bo</i> Case

Abstract

By the judgment made in the Fra.bo case the EU Court of Justice (CJ) ruled that, in certain conditions the standard setting and certification activities conducted by a private-law standard setting organizations (SSO) interfere with the principle of free movement of goods. As a result, an undertaking feeling aggrieved by the measures adopted by an SSO may directly enforce the EU Treaty provisions on free movement of goods directly against such body. The article discusses the Fra.bo case, dwelling in particular on the issue whether the CJ relied on the doctrine of vertical or horizontal effects of the EU Treaty provisions and on the practical implications of the judgment for the SSO business.