86In that regard, it is settled case-law that both the right to property and the freedom to pursue a trade or profession form part of the general principles of Community law. However, those principles do not constitute absolute prerogatives, but must be viewed in relation to their social function. Consequently, the exercise of the right to property and to pursue a trade or profession freely may be restricted, particularly in the context of a common organisation of the market, provided that those restrictions in fact correspond to objectives of general interest pursued by the Community and that they do not constitute, with regard to the aim pursued, a disproportionate and intolerable interference which infringes upon the very substance of the rights guaranteed (see Case 44/79 Hauer [1979] ECR 3727, paragraph 32; Case 265/87 Schräder [1989] ECR 2237, paragraph 15, and Case 5/88 Wachauf [1989] ECR 2609, paragraphs 17 and 18). The compatibility of the method of combined management of tariff quotas with the requirements of the protection of the fundamental rights invoked by the appellants must be assessed in the light of those criteria.
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