Corporate mobility, market access and the internal market

This article examines the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)’s case law on corporate mobility. It demonstrates that the jurisprudence can be reconciled with internal market principles, and in particular reflects the objective of eliminating restrictions on market access. However, the concept of market access is controversial as it remains undefined by the CJEU. Through an analysis of the corporate mobility case law, this article seeks to advance a more comprehensive understanding of the role and substance of market access. It is submitted that market access has two roles: first, as an objective that serves to develop and unify the various approaches to identifying a restriction on the fundamental freedoms; and secondly, as a residual legal test that delineates the outer limits of the Treaty