Free Movement of Goods - Gov.uk

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1. IntroductionThe free movement of goods is an aspect of EU membership that directly orindirectly affects all UK businesses and consumers. The EU’s Internal Market(also known as the single market or common market) enables the ‘freemovement of goods’ between EU Member States. This means that, in effect,border controls between Member States have been removed for legally traded orpurchased goods. Therefore, most goods can be moved across the bordersbetween EU Member States without the need to pay tax, make customsdeclarations or obtain customs clearance.Around half of all the UK’s trade is with other EU Member States, and this tradeis worth hundreds of billions of pounds to the UK economy. Many of the goodsbought and sold in the UK are either made in the EU or have some part of theirproduction process in the EU.The UK’s annual import and export figures for EU and non-EU trade(Annual totals for 2012)£billionGoods imported into the UK fromother EU member states 206.2Goods exported from the UK toother EU member states 150.6- 55.6£billionGoods imported into the UK fromnon-EU countries 199.3Goods exported from the UK toThe table non-EU below countries shows the value of UK trade in goods 146.7 with other EU MemberStates (both imports and exports), in comparison with the value of UK tradeoutside the EU.- 52.6Overall, Source: around HMRC 15% of British businesses are involved in some form ofinternational trade.2
The table above shows the value of UK trade in goods with other EU MemberStates (both imports and exports), in comparison with the value of UK tradeoutside the EU. (1)The ability to move goods freely within the Internal Market is therefore animportant part of doing business in the UK. In 2010 over 132,000 UK companiesimported goods from the EU and around 112,000 companies exported goods toEU destinations. (2)Overall, around 15% of British businesses are involved in some form ofinternational trade. Whether you are a large company, a small or medium sizedbusiness or a consumer, you are almost certainly affected by the free movementof goods within the EU.2. Background to this reviewThe Foreign Secretary launched the Balance of Competences Review inParliament on 12 July 2012. This takes forward the Coalition commitment toexamine the balance of competences between the UK and the European Union.The review will provide an analysis of what the UK’s membership of the EUmeans for the UK national interest. It is not tasked with producing specificrecommendations, and will not prejudge future policy or look at alternativemodels for Britain’s overall relationship with the EU. It aims to deepen public andParliamentary understanding of the nature of our EU membership and provide aconstructive and serious contribution to the national and wider European debateabout modernising, reforming and improving the EU in the face of collectivechallenges.The overall review will be broken down into a series of reports on specific areasof EU competence. This part of the review is being jointly led by HM Revenueand Customs, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and theIntellectual Property Office. It will look primarily at the free movement of goodswithin the Internal Market.(1) Statistical note: Potential statistical inaccuracies can result from the misreporting of UKexports to non-EU countries as intra-EU trade. This can happen when goods intended forexport to a non-EU destination initially travel via another EU Member State. Similarly,goods imported into the UK from outside the EU which first enter the EU in anotherMember State could be reported as intra-EU trade. Conversely, some goods importedinto the UK from outside the EU could ultimately be destined for another EU MemberState.(2) Source: Office for National Statistics3
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Free Movement of Goods - Gov.uk

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