Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1998:345
Date: 1998-07-09
Language of the case: Finnish
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Accession;Free movement of goods;Customs Union
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Finland

Summary of the Judgment
Accession of new Member States to the Communities —· Finland — Free movement of goods —
Common Customs Tariff— Temporary derogation —National customs tariff applicable to non-
member countries for certain products — Application to imports ofproducts originating in a non-
member country which have been released into free circulation in another Member State — Not
permissible
(Act of Accession 1994, Art. 99)
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SUMMARY — CASE C-233/97
Article 99 of the Act concerning the condi­
tions of accession of the Republic of Austria,
the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of
Sweden is to be interpreted as not having per­
mitted the Republic of Finland to levy, for a
period of three years from its accession to the
Community on 1 January 1995, customs duties
on imports of products which had already
been released into free circulation in another
Member State.
The wording of Article 99 of the Act of
Accession shows that that provision consti­
tutes a temporary derogation from the appli­
cation in full of the Common Customs Tariff
in trade between the Republic of Finland and
non-member countries as regards the prod­
ucts referred to in Annex XI to the Act of
Accession. It does not, however, provide for
any derogation from the principle of free
movement of goods between Member States,
whether in relation to products originating in
the Member States or to products assimilated
thereto.
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