A landmark judgement of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) dated 20 February 1979. The ‘Cassis de Dijon principle’ derived from this ruling generally states that all products which have been lawfully manufactured and placed on the market in one EU Member State in accordance with the regulations applicable there may, in principle, also be sold in all other Member States, even if different regulations apply there.

Accordingly, a Member State may restrict the free movement of goods within the EU only for very specific reasons in the public interest. These include, in particular, tax control, the protection of public health, fair trading and consumer protection. The judgement is regarded as the cornerstone of the principle of mutual recognition of goods within the European single market.
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Dominik Trick
Technischer Lehrer, staatl. geprüfter Sommelier, Hotelfachschule Heidelberg