Question: According to the “Bavarian Purity Commandment of 1516”, beer must be brewed using only malt, hops, yeast and water. This provision was included in §9 (1) of the German Beer Tax Act. § 10 (1) of the same act:
(a) prohibits the use of any additional ingredients when brewing beer,
(b) prohibits all trade in beer that includes these prohibited ingredients, and
(c) provides, that only drinks brewed according to the purity commandment may be traded under the name “beer” in Germany.
The provision applies equally to domestic and imported products. Most other Member States allow the use of rice, corn and other additional ingredients for the brewing of beer (sic). The effect of the purity commandment is that brewers from other Member States, although allowed to import their drinks to Germany, are prevented from selling or trading them under the name “beer”.
The Commission considers these provisions to be in violation of EU law. Germany argued that the provisions were necessary to protect the consumer. German consumers trust that drinks being sold as “beer” are brewed in accordance to the purity commandment. Moreover, the use of additional ingredients represented a risk for the health of consumers, especially as the long-term effects were unknown. In other Member States, however, there have been no negative effects on the health of consumers caused by the consummation of such drinks brewed using additional ingredients (apart from the usual effect when they had too much of it).
Discuss whether § 10 (1) of the German Beer Tax Act violates EU law.
2nd Year LLB Law - Legal Foundations of the European Union – Mark 72%
Answer: One of the purposes prohibiting charges and restrictions is to promote market access allowing producers to maximize sales and consumers to have wider choices. As a result any infringement of these restrictions must be justifiable.
Article 28 and 30 of the TFEU prohibit customs duties and charges having an equivalent effect. The purity commandment does not impose a charge or customs duty but instead imposes restrictions on the type of good. Thus it is unlikely to be pursued as a violation of Article 28 or 30.
Article 34 in the TFEU states 'Quantitative restrictions on imports and all measures having equivalent effect shall be prohibited'. In Geddo, a quantitative restriction was defined as any measure 'that restrains the import, transit or export of a certain good according to quantity or value.' The purity laws do not restrict the beer according to value or quantity. Instead ...(short extract)
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- Subject: Law
- Course: European Union Law
- Level: Degree
- Year: 2nd/3rd
- Mark: 72%
- Words: 976
- Date submitted: April 06, 2017
- Date written: November, 2016
- References: Yes
- Document type: Essay*
- Essay ID: 7908
