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Press ServiceDirectorate for the MediaDirector - Spokesperson : Jaume DUCH GUILLOTReference No:20130222STO05960Press switchboard number (32-2) 28 33000

EN

We’ve done more reports on the implementation of services directive than on any otherpiece of legislation that I can think of. And that was because this directive itself is only herebecause of the advocacy of the Parliament. In fact, the Parliament was able to broker acompromise with the member states.

We only have persuasive powers. The European Commission has some legislativeinstruments but they are very blunt weapons. The instruments we have are to put thesethings on a public platform. This is the role of politicians: to talk about it. So that’s why wehad a hearing on 20 February.

So the ball is now in the member states’ court. What’s the role of the EP in this?

There is still plenty of room for improvement.

The second thing is actually encouraging the businesses to take advantage of it. We havethe instruments and information there. But we haven’t promoted them to prospectivecustomers.

Member states are still retaining too much restrictive legislation. There is an entitlementunder the directive to be able to restrict access to services from other countries on publicinterest grounds. That public interest defence has been used much too widely whereactually it would be good for consumers have more competition.

But there are still some problems?

In many cases those restrictions also applied to services and businesses within thecountry itself. There’s been a change and improvement in regulatory policies for domesticproviders.

The requirement on member states was to examine all the internal legislation that wasdiscriminating against service providers and remove that legislation. It has had asignificant effect. There has been a lot of legislation repealed.

The services directive was supposed to remove barriers to cross–border provisionof services. Did it succeed?

We talked to committee chair Malcolm Harbour, a British member of the ECR group, aboutthe directive that proved controversial when it was first proposed. Opponents were worriedit could lead to competition between workers in different parts of the EU, but supporterssaid it could boost business and help to improve services.

The EU's single market for goods is well-established, but there are still manyrestrictions preventing people from exercising their profession in other memberstates. The EU services directive - also known as the Bolkestein directive after theDutch commissioner who first proposed it - was designed to make this easier. TheEP's internal market committee held a hearing on 20 February to discuss if thedirective has managed to deliver after being in force for more than three years.

Committees Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection [22-02-2013 - 11:56]

Services directive: "Still plenty of room forimprovement"

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