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Koutrakos, Panos --- "The external dimension of the internal market and the individual" [2006] ELECD 417; in Shuibhne, Nic Niamh (ed), "Regulating the Internal Market" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006)

Book Title: Regulating the Internal Market

Editor(s): Shuibhne, Nic Niamh

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781845420338

Section: Chapter 10

Section Title: The external dimension of the internal market and the individual

Author(s): Koutrakos, Panos

Extract:

10. The external dimension of the
internal market and the individual
Panos Koutrakos

INTRODUCTION
Within the context of the single market, the individual is at the very centre of
the implementation of Community law by carrying out a two-fold function. On
the one hand, they have been the recipients of rights conferred upon them by
EC law: from van Gend en Loos1 to van Duyn2 to Ratti,3 they have been
granted what would subsequently be described as a minimum level of protec-
tion4 and become agents of the decentralised enforcement of the law of the
single market. On the other hand, that enhanced legal position has been instru-
mentalised by the Court of Justice and enabled it to strike down national prac-
tices which were not only economically but also politically protectionist.5
These intrinsically intertwined functions have rendered individuals not only
passive recipients of rights, but also active participants in the establishment
and management of the internal market. In doing so, they have contributed to
the definition of the fundamental nature of the Community legal order.
Within the context of EC external relations, however, the definition of the
legal position of individuals gives rise to a new set of questions. The legal
personality of the EC6 and the competence to negotiate and conclude interna-
tional agreements, both autonomously and along with the Member States,


1 Case 26/62 van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen
[1963] EUECJ R-26/62; [1963] ECR 1.
2 Case 41/74 van Duyn v ...