The 'Honey' Judgment of Bablok and Others versus Freistaat Bayern in the Court of Justice of the European Union: Implications for Coexistence

This piece analyses the CJEU’s Bablok Case from the perspective of law and economics. It uses doctrinal and economic argumentation to test its effects on international trade as well as on the legal order of the EU. It tests whether these insights live up to the expectations of the lawmaker. Furthermore, it makes policy recommendations how these insights can be used to further policy making in this area at EU level. We proceed in five steps. We will first introduce the background of the case and the regulatory environment, before we turn to describing the facts and findings of the Court. We will subsequently illustrate the changes in the regulatory system triggered by the Court’s judgment, before we turn to a more thorough analysis of the judgment on the EU and the global trade system from a socio-economic perspective. From these findings, we will conclude with concrete policy recommendations.