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Case C-112/00 Schmidberger v Austria [2003] ECR I-5659

By Oxbridge Law TeamUpdated 04/01/2024 07:15

Judgement for the case Case C-112/00 Schmidberger v Austria

Table Of Contents

  • A closed the roads between Austria and Italy to allow an environmental protest to take place.

  • Schmidberger (S) claimed that this road closure prevented free movement of goods under Article 28.

  • Austria contended that this was justified by the fundamental rights of expression and association that it was protecting, so that there were rights being weighed up against each other.

  • ECJ accepted the protection of fundamental rights as a justification for infringing free movement of goods. 

ECJ

Since both the Community and its Member States are required to respect fundamental rights, the protection of those rights is a legitimate interest which, in principle, justifies a restriction of the obligations imposed by Community law, even under a fundamental freedom guaranteed by the Treaty such as the free movement of goods.

  • The restriction of free movement of goods here was therefore deemed proportionate as an appropriate means to respect the rights of freedom of expression and association.

  • The weighing up exercise was necessary because freedom of expression and association are two qualified (not absolute) rights, therefore they do not necessarily trump free movement of goods. 

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European Law Notes
1,161 total pages
1027 purchased

European Law notes fully updated for recent exams at Oxford and Cambrid...