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Fundamental Concepts of the Customs Union

Having placed the Union’s customs union in the context of Union law generally, we now turn to consider Union customs law itself. We begin with an examination of the nature of the European Union’s (EU’s) and Community’s customs union and its relationship with the European Coal and Steel Community (‘ECSC’) and the European Atomic Energy Community (‘Euratom’). Then, after mentioning briefly the common customs tariff, which is considered in more detail in Chapter 5 below, we look at three matters which are essential to the internal aspect of the EU’s customs union, namely, the prohibition of customs duties and charges having equivalent effect, the nature of goods for the purposes of the customs union, and the meaning of goods in free circulation. Finally, we examine the territorial scope of the customs territory of the Union and identify the customs unions of which it forms part.