France was recently ordered to increase the quotas of Tobacco Products which could be brought into France by French residents and visitors coming from other EU countries !
France in fact had permitted only minimal quotas for tourists and returning French residents. This was found to infringe the basic rule of the free circulation of people and goods in the EU ! Cigarettes in some bordering countries are much cheaper than in France because taxes are lower !
The EU like France has the avowed Objective to reduce smoking, but in this case the EU wanted to avoid the violation of the "free trade" principle !
France wanted high cost cigarettes to deter smokers and young people becoming smokers. Would it not have been more effective if the EU had decided to introduce the same prices for Tobacco Products in all countries of the EU ?
In fact, is this case not another example of "meddling" by Brussels ? It finally reduces the powers of National Parliaments but never wants to revise its own "Directives" !
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, is preparing his files to tackle a number of issues with the EU. If the "Entente Cordiale" is still a living memory of the Past, then France may wish to join him !
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