The question whether the European Community should intervene in the economic process, and if so, to what extent, has been the subject of public debate for many years.
This study describes and gives an analysis of the manner and extent to which the European Community intervenes in the automobile industry through legal measures. The focus is on those provisions of the EC Treaty and the multiple Community legal measures that constitute the Community legal framework within which the automobile industry must operate.
This study gives an introduction to the automobile industry and the EC Treaty and examines a selection of the multiple Community measures that have significant implications for the automobile industry. Important examples of such measures are:
the rules on type approvalregistration of automobilesroadworthiness testsinternal taxation, environmentthe common rules on imports and exportsdistribution and servicingstate aid measuresconcentrations and cooperationthe various Community measures aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of the Community's automobile industry
This study shows that the Community, and the Commission in particular, is increasingly making use of the various competences provided by the EC Treaty to intervene in the automobile industry. This development is further stimulated by the gradual internationalisation, or even globalisation, of the world economy.
In addition, this study indicates that there is a need for a much more unambiguous, coherent and transparent legal framework within which the automobile industry must operate.
- Theoretical Framework
- The Automobile Industry
- The EC Treaty
- The Elimination of Obstacles to Intra-Community Trade and the Automobile Industry
- Common Commercial Policy and the Automobile Industry
- Undistorted Competition and the Automobile Industry
- Distribution and Servicing in the Automobile Industry
- State Aid in the Automobile Industry
- Concentration and Co-Operation in the Automobile Industry
- Strengthening of the Competitiveness of Community Industry and the Automobile Industry
- Promotion of Research and Technological Development and the Automobile Industry
- Education and Vocational Training and the Automobile Industry
- General Conclusions: European Community Law and the Automobile Industry