MUTUAL RECOGNITION OF THE TECHNICAL RULES IN EUROPEAN UNION LAW

Pravilo vzajemnega priznavanja določa, da se mora blagu, proizvedenemu in danemu na trg v eni državi članici praviloma brez omejitev dopustiti dostop na trg drugih držav članic. Načelo pomembno vpliva na prost pretok blaga med državami članicami Evropske unije, saj kar ena četrtina proizvodov v meddržavni trgovini EU še ni harmonizirana in je zato podvržena nacionalnim proizvodnim pravilom. Za gospodarske subjekte to večkrat pomeni dodatno prilagajanje in stroške, saj morajo pri meddržavni prodaji blaga zadostiti pravilom izvorne in namembne države članice. Ker to pomeni dvojno breme, je tuje blago v slabšem položaju kot domače. Načelo vzajemnega priznavanja zato zahteva priznavanje proizvodnih pravil drugih držav članic in s tem zagotavlja negativno integracijo v popolnoma novem pomenu. Pravilo vzajemnega priznavanja pa ni absolutno, države članice imajo namreč možnost, da za dostop na njihov trg zahtevajo izpolnitev strožjih proizvodnih pravil. Gre za izjeme od vzajemnega priznavanja, ki državam članicam omogočajo, da preverijo, ali določen proizvod iz druge države članice zagotavlja enakovredno raven varstva kot jo zagotavljajo lastna nacionalna pravila. Kadar želi namembna država članica uveljaviti višje zahteve, mora pri tem upoštevati dva pogoja. Prvi je ta, da se mora takšen ukrep opravičiti z višjim razlogom v javnem interesu (kot so varstvo potrošnikov, okolja, javnega zdravja, itd.) in drugi, da je tak ukrep sorazmeren. Pri uporabi načela vzajemnega priznavanja so se v praksi pojavljale težave zaradi nepoznavanja pravic in obveznosti tako na strani gospodarskih subjektov kot tudi na strani nacionalnih organov. Pomemben korak za izboljšanje teh težav je pomenilo sprejetje Uredbe 764/2008. Le-ta je natančno definirala potek postopka, ki mu morajo nacionalni organi slediti pri uveljavljanju izjem od vzajemnega priznavanja in zahtevala vzpostavitev kontaktnih točk z namenom posredovanja informacij gospodarskim subjektom o pravicah, ki jim pripadajo iz naslova vzajemnega priznavanja.Mutual recognition principle requires that goods lawfully produced and marketed in one Member State can be without further restrictions introduced into other Member States. This principle has an important impact on free movement of goods between Member States of European Union, which is because one quarter of products in EU is not yet harmonised and is therefore subject to national technical rules. That brings additional adaptation requirements and costs for economic operators in interstate trading of goods because they have to satisfy both home and host state rules. Principle of mutual recognition therefore claims recognition of technical rules of other Member States and ensures negative integration in a whole new meaning. Mutual recognition principle is not, however, an absolute oneMember States have a possibility to impose stricter technical rules for access to their market. These are exceptions from mutual recognition principle, that allow Member States to verify the equivalence of the level of protection provided by the product from other Member State compared with the level of protection provided by their own national rules. When the Member State of destination exercises the right to higher standards, it must take into account two conditions. First, this measure must be justified with overriding reason of public interest (such as protection of consumers, environment, public health, etc.) and second, measure must be proportionate. In practice both economic operators and national authorities did not always make full and proper use of the mutual recognition because they were not sufficiently aware of their rights and obligations. An important step in improving these problems was adopting Regulation 764/2008. It defines exactly the procedure that should be followed by national authorities when they assert their right to apply exceptions from mutual recognition, and demands establishment of product contact points in order to provide information to economic operators of rights that they are entitled under the mutual recognition principle