Case C-491/01 R v Secretary of State for Health, ex p British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco [2002]
Facts
- Directive 2001/37/EC sought to harmonise laws on the manufacture, sale and presentation of tobacco products
- The directive was adopted on two legal basis, [Art 114 TFEU] on internal market measures and a common commercial policy basis
Issue
- Was the directive valid?
Decision
- Yes, directive valid and must be transposed
Reasoning
- A measure will be validly based on [Art 114 TFEU] if it is genuinely intended to improve conditions for the establishment of the internal market
- There were differences in packaging and ingredient requirements between Member States, justifying the user of [Art 114 TFEU]
Opinion
- The effects based analysis used in this case is inexplicably different to the object based analysis used in Tobacco Advertising I [2000]
- Recourse to Art 114 TFEU was made easier by relaxing a requirement of a positive effect on trade to a mere hypothetical requirement
