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FREE LAW JOURNAL - VOLUME 1, NUMBER 1 (18 JULY 2005)
based on free enterprise and competition. 53 Under Article 45 the law guarantees free access to economic
activities, the freedom to enterprise and their exercise.
c) The third group comprises constitutions that contain the principle of social state and non expressis
verbis the principle of market economy. In Article 1 the Croatian constitution declares that Croatia is a
unitary, transparent, democratic and social state. In Article 49 it lays down that the basis of the economic
system of the state is the freedom to enterprise and the freedom of market, thus – by systemic construction
– the principle of market economy can also be gathered from this constitution. Further sections of the
cited article should be taken into account in the course of the interpretation. Pursuant to these sections the
state shall guarantee equal opportunities to all entrepreneurs on the market and shall prohibit the abuse of
monopolistic position specified by law. Further, the state shall enhance economic development, social
well-being and shall consider the economic development of all regions. The above interpretation is
reinforced by Article 50, pursuant to which the freedom to enterprise and the right to property may
exceptionally be restricted by law, in the interest or security of the state, and when referring to the
protection of public health and the environment. In Article 2 the Slovenian constitution lays down that the
state shall be governed by the principle of market economy and social statehood. Article 74 on free
enterprise may be perceived as the realisation of market economy, since this also lays down the
prohibition of unfair competition and restrictive practice.
d) The next group comprises constitutions in which the constitution making power did not lay down
market economy expressis verbis, but it can be gathered from the provisions. Pursuant to Article 19 (1) of
the Bulgarian constitution of 1991, the Bulgarian economy is based on free economic initiatives. The
second section of the article practically lays down the principle of market economy, since it stipulates that
the state shall guarantee equal legal conditions for pursuing economic activities to all citizens by avoiding
the formation of monopolistic positions and unfair competition and by guaranteeing consumer protection.
Articles 17-18 provide for the forms of ownership, the inviolability of private ownership and contain
detailed provisions pertaining to state ownership. Article 41 of the Italian constitution provides for the
freedom of private economic initiatives. The constitutional norms contain three essential factors of
economic management: private initiative, the limits of social order and national planning. It is not clear
yet, how these three elements may be combined in the legal regime of the economy on the basis of the
political possibilities of the given era. 54 Article 8 of the Macedonian constitution lays down among others
the freedom of market and undertakings as the fundamental principles of the constitutional order of the
republic.
Incorporating (social) market economy into the constitution is apparently a generally applied practice in
the course of the new constitution making processes, which is justified on the one hand by the transition
from command (centralised) economy to market economy in the countries of the region, on the other hand
by the ever strengthening international and constitutional recognition of economic freedoms and social
rights linked to them. This is strengthened by the fact that Part II of the TCE contains the Charter of the
Fundamental Rights of the Union.
53 Article 135
54 Grisi: ibid p 87
DR. TÍMEA DRINÓCZI - SOME ELEMENTS OF THE ECONOMIC CONSTITUTION OF THE EU: SOCIAL MARKET ECONOMY AND RELEVANT FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS 72