Wider circulation of services in EU Member States in order
to create an effective “area without borders”, currently
limited by the presence of legal and administrative barriers:
this is the objective proposed by the directive “relative
to services of the domestic market” presented by the European
Commission on February 25, 2004 and currently being discussed
by the EU.
The directive regards multiple activities, such as distribution,
leisure services, advertising, car rentals, liaison agencies,
and security services.
Currently, a service provider in one Member State desiring to
carry out his/her activity in another Member State can encounter
obstacles, limiting two fundamental rights guaranteed by the
treaty: liberty of establishment and free circulation of services
among Member States. The effect produced by this limitation
also damages the recipients of the services offered, and implies
important economic repercussions: it is estimated that about
70% of economic activity in the European Union is composed of
services. The directive proposal is part of the process of economic
reforms opened by the European Council of Lisbon with the purpose
of making the EU the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based
economy in the world by 2010.
What the directive proposes
Obstacles to service activities development among Member States
emerge especially in two types of situations:
– when a provider residing in one Member State wishes
to establish him/herself in another Member State to carry out
his/her services (he/she could, for example, be submitted to
oppressive authorization regimes, excessive administrative formalism,
discriminatory prescriptions, economic controls, etc.);
– when a provider wishes to provide a service in another
Member State, by moving into the territory of this State temporarily
(he/she could, for example, be subject to the legal obligation
of establishing him/herself in that State, or of obtaining its
authorization, or be subject to the application of its practice
conditions laws, or to disproportionate procedures in transferal
of workers).
In order to guarantee freedom of establishment, the proposal
introduces one-stop counters where the provider will be able
to do all administrative procedures relating to his/her activity
(they can also be done electronically). Also, a series of authorization
regimes applicable to service activities will need to be respected:
in particular, the conditions and procedures of authorization
issuing, and the prohibition of particularly restrictive legal
prescriptions which might still exist in the laws of some Member
States.
In order to guarantee the circulation of services among Member
States, the proposal provides for the provider being submitted,
except in special waivers, to the laws of the State in which
he/she is established. Member States must not impose restrictions
to services furnished by a provider established in a different
Member State. An assistance mechanism is provided to the recipient
utilizing the service furnished by a provider established in
a different Member State. The proposal also provides for a complex
administrative cooperation activity.
The directive will be applied to services furnished by providers
established in one Member State and will discipline only services
of general economic interest (SGEI); that is, those utilities
which correspond to an economic activity and are open to competition.
The directive will therefore not be applied to services of general
interest (SGI), as defined by Member States, unless they are
economic activities open to competition or to whose supply private
enterprises can participate. Numerous sectors will be excluded
from the field of coverage, for example: transport utilities,
financial services, telecommunications, legal services, and
medical and sanitary services.
Italy’s position
Italy attributes great political importance to the elimination
of obstacles, both legislative and not, to services in the domestic
market. It is an essential condition to the realization of the
global objective established by the Lisbon European Council
to making the EU economy the most dynamic and competitive in
the world by 2010. In October 2003 the European Council identified
in the domestic market a key sector to improve the competitiveness
of the European economy and thus create the necessary conditions
to favor growth and employment. The Spring 2005 Council confirmed
this importance, determining the directive proposal as one of
the key instruments.
The economic advantages of the opening of the services market
are evident, as are the effects of productivity growth and contribution
on foreign trade.
The most interesting and effective part of the proposal appears
to be the part directed to the modernization of connection systems
of competent authorities, through information, transparency,
and simplification of procedures. All this becomes part of the
processes already in progress at a national level, but it strengthens
its value in order to guarantee a favorable context to the development
of the domestic services market.
