Professor Takis Tridimas:

Our opening statement reflects our views as expressed in three opinions. The first dates from November 2018 and was written by me. The second and third were prepared jointly by the two of us in 2024 and 2025, respectively. A copy of those opinions has been submitted to the committee. We would like to stress that we approach the issues arising in this case strictly as legal experts. We do not express a view on the underlying political issues that arise in this case. We are here as jurists.

Our views can be summarised as follows. We will first discuss trade in goods and then trade in services. The importation of goods from third countries to the member states is part of the European Union's common commercial policy, which, under Article 3(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, is an exclusive competence of the EU. Under Article 2(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, “when the treaties confer on the Union exclusive competence in a specific area, only the Union may legislate ... the Member States being able to do so themselves only if so empowered by the Union or for the implementation of Union acts”. In relation to trade in goods from third countries, the Union has empowered member states to legislate. The main EU measure that governs the importation of goods from third countries is Regulation (EU) 2015/478 on common rules for imports. The import regulation essentially provides that, in principle, the importation of products from third countries is free, namely, it must not be subject to any quantitative restrictions. However, the principle of free importation is subject to the derogation clause of Article 24(2)(a). This states that the regulation shall not preclude the adoption or application by member states of “prohibitions, quantitative restrictions or surveillance measures on grounds of public morality, public policy or public security”.

Although the public policy exception is to be understood narrowly-----