The System of Undistorted Competition of Article 3(f) of the EEC Treaty and the Duty of Member States to Respect the Central Parameters Thereof

In Leclerc v. \u27Au ble vert\u27, the Court of Justice of the European Communities was asked to decide whether national measures imposing resale price maintenance for book could violate Member States\u27 duties under Article 5 of the Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community in conjunction with Articles 3(f), 85 and 86 thereof. The importance of the issues at stake justify yet another attempt to define the implications of the system of undistorted competition for the exercise by Member States of retained powers. I will make this attempt by setting the issues raised against the wider background of the constitutional rank of the objective of Article 3(f). I will also try to distinguish more clearly between State measures directed to particular price levels and State measures setting the essential parameters of the system of competition