Abstract
European integration was always conveyed by economic motives. The European Coal and Steel Community, the European Economic Community, and the European Union (EU) were founded by economic interests. Since the European Union is a sui generis organisation and is also founded by the law, those economic interests needed to be formalized. Therefore, four freedoms for guarantee the single market were designed. The freedom of movement of goods, capitals, persons and the freedom of establishment are those four freedoms. Nowadays, those freedoms are the foundations of EU law, and they are in the Treaty of Lisbon, in the Charter of Fundamental Rights or the jurisprudence of the European Union Court of Justice (EUCJ).
But how should we define the freedom of establishment? Catherine Barnard encapsulates the freedom of establishment in the EU context as “the right to take or to pursuit activities in another member State without discrimination ”. This definition highlights how the freedom of establishment is fundamental for completing the internal market. In the Treaty of Lisbon, several articles are about the freedom of establishment in the TFUE – Title IV “Freedom of persons, services and capitals” – Chapter 2 “the freedom of establishment” (articles 49-55).
This illustrates how the right to pursuit activities in another member State is totally integrated in EU law, politics and policies. It concerns the free movement of services, the free movement of workers, companies and individuals. From an economic perspective, services are fundamental into the EU market. Indeed, services represent almost at the EU 80% of the working population. Completing the internal market is not only a matter of goods or capitals; it is also matter of “human capital”, services and workers.
