Privatinförsel eller detaljhandel? – Juridisk analys av förutsättningarna för privatinförsel av alkohol till Sverige efter Winefinder-målet
(2024) HARH13 20241Department of Business Law
- Abstract
- Sweden has long pursued a restrictive alcohol policy. Sweden is also a member of the European Union, where the the free movement of goods is a general principle. This dividing line has resulted in Sweden getting to retain a retail monopoly (Systembolaget), however the possibility for Swedes to privately import alcoholic beverages for their private consumption was introduced. In 2023, the Swedish Supreme Court delivered its judgement in the Winefinder case, and some ambiguities regarding the possibility of private import were clarified.
The essay was based on research questions about how far-reaching the legal possibilities for private import are, the importance of relationships between seller, buyer and transporter; and to what extent... (More) - Sweden has long pursued a restrictive alcohol policy. Sweden is also a member of the European Union, where the the free movement of goods is a general principle. This dividing line has resulted in Sweden getting to retain a retail monopoly (Systembolaget), however the possibility for Swedes to privately import alcoholic beverages for their private consumption was introduced. In 2023, the Swedish Supreme Court delivered its judgement in the Winefinder case, and some ambiguities regarding the possibility of private import were clarified.
The essay was based on research questions about how far-reaching the legal possibilities for private import are, the importance of relationships between seller, buyer and transporter; and to what extent these provisions can be used to design business activities that mimic retail sale without being legally classified as just retail sale.
The method for answering these questions consisted of the legal-dogmatic and the EU legal method, and the material consisted mainly of Swedish legislation, and its preparatory works, and Swedish precedential cases in combination with EU primary law and cases from the European Court of Justice.
The paper found that the legal possibilities for private import are far-reaching. Specifically, it was found that the current law means that the possibility of conducting activities similar to, and competing with, the retail sale of alcohol should be possible in a geographically limited area in the vicinity of Denmark. The analysis of compliance with EU law concludes that certain measures regulating the forms of private imports of alcohol likely constitute barriers to trade, but that it is probable that the European Court of Justice would leave the proportionality and purposefulness assessments to Swedish courts in such a case. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Sverige har under lång tid haft en restriktiv alkoholpolitik. Sverige är också medlem i Europeiska unionen, där huvudregeln är fri rörlighet av varor. Denna skiljelinje har inneburit att Sverige visserligen fått behålla ett detaljhandelsmonopol (Systembolaget), men också att en möjlighet för svenskar att privat importera alkoholhaltiga drycker för eget bruk införts. År 2023 lämnade Högsta domstolen sitt domslut i Winefinder-målet, och en del oklarheter angående möjligheten till privatinförsel reddes ut.
Uppsatsen utgick utifrån frågeställningar om hur långtgående förutsättningarna för privatinförsel är, betydelsen av relationer mellan säljare, köpare samt transportör; samt till vilken grad dessa bestämmelser kan nyttjas för att utforma... (More) - Sverige har under lång tid haft en restriktiv alkoholpolitik. Sverige är också medlem i Europeiska unionen, där huvudregeln är fri rörlighet av varor. Denna skiljelinje har inneburit att Sverige visserligen fått behålla ett detaljhandelsmonopol (Systembolaget), men också att en möjlighet för svenskar att privat importera alkoholhaltiga drycker för eget bruk införts. År 2023 lämnade Högsta domstolen sitt domslut i Winefinder-målet, och en del oklarheter angående möjligheten till privatinförsel reddes ut.
Uppsatsen utgick utifrån frågeställningar om hur långtgående förutsättningarna för privatinförsel är, betydelsen av relationer mellan säljare, köpare samt transportör; samt till vilken grad dessa bestämmelser kan nyttjas för att utforma verksamheter som efterliknar detaljhandel utan att juridiskt klassas som just detaljhandel.
Metoden för att besvara dessa frågeställningar bestod av rättsdogmatisk samt EU-rättslig metod, och materialet bestod främst av svensk lagstiftning, dess förarbeten samt prejudicerande domar i kombination med EU-rättslig primärrätt samt mål från EU-domstolen.
Uppsatsen fann att förutsättningarna för privatinförsel är långtgående. Konkret fanns att den gällande rätten innebär att möjligheten att driva verksamhet som liknar, samt konkurrerar med, detaljhandeln av alkohol bör vara möjlig i ett geografiskt begränsat område i närheten av Danmark. Analysen angående överensstämmelse med EU-rätten landar i att vissa hämmande åtgärder rörande privatinförsels former förmodligen utgör handelshinder, men att det i så fall är troligt att EU-domstolen, om den fått ta ställning till dessa, hade lämnat proportionalitets- och ändamålsenlighetsprövning åt svenska domstolar. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9153667
- author
- Wald, Alexander LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- HARH13 20241
- year
- 2024
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- alkohol, detaljhandel, EU-rätt, handelsmonopol, privatinförsel, Rosengren, systembolaget, Winefinder
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9153667
- date added to LUP
- 2024-06-04 09:23:19
- date last changed
- 2024-06-04 09:23:19
@misc{9153667,
abstract = {{Sweden has long pursued a restrictive alcohol policy. Sweden is also a member of the European Union, where the the free movement of goods is a general principle. This dividing line has resulted in Sweden getting to retain a retail monopoly (Systembolaget), however the possibility for Swedes to privately import alcoholic beverages for their private consumption was introduced. In 2023, the Swedish Supreme Court delivered its judgement in the Winefinder case, and some ambiguities regarding the possibility of private import were clarified.
The essay was based on research questions about how far-reaching the legal possibilities for private import are, the importance of relationships between seller, buyer and transporter; and to what extent these provisions can be used to design business activities that mimic retail sale without being legally classified as just retail sale.
The method for answering these questions consisted of the legal-dogmatic and the EU legal method, and the material consisted mainly of Swedish legislation, and its preparatory works, and Swedish precedential cases in combination with EU primary law and cases from the European Court of Justice.
The paper found that the legal possibilities for private import are far-reaching. Specifically, it was found that the current law means that the possibility of conducting activities similar to, and competing with, the retail sale of alcohol should be possible in a geographically limited area in the vicinity of Denmark. The analysis of compliance with EU law concludes that certain measures regulating the forms of private imports of alcohol likely constitute barriers to trade, but that it is probable that the European Court of Justice would leave the proportionality and purposefulness assessments to Swedish courts in such a case.}},
author = {{Wald, Alexander}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Privatinförsel eller detaljhandel? – Juridisk analys av förutsättningarna för privatinförsel av alkohol till Sverige efter Winefinder-målet}},
year = {{2024}},
}