Europaudvalget 2009-10
EUU Alm.del Bilag 362
Offentligt
839635_0001.png
COUNCIL OF
THE EUROPEAN UNION
Brussels, 26 February 2010
6817/10
COMPET 75
SOC 153
JUSTCIV 35
MI 64
INFORMATION NOTE
from:
General Secretariat of the Council
to:
Council (Competitiveness and Growth)
Subject:
Services Directive - State of play of transposition
Delegations will find attached an information note from the Commission on the above subject
which will be dealt with under " Any other business", agenda item 12 (f) at the Competitiveness
Council on 1-2 March 2010.
__________
6817/10
DG C1A
AR/ab
1
EN
 PDF to HTML - Convert PDF files to HTML files
839635_0002.png
ANNEX
M
EETING OF THE
C
OMPETITIVENESS
C
OUNCIL
1-2 M
ARCH
2010
S
TATE OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
S
ERVICES
D
IRECTIVE
Information note from the Commission services
________________________________________________________________
The Services Directive is a horizontal internal market instrument which concerns a large variety of
economic activities. Its proper implementation is a unique opportunity to modernise and simplify
Member States' regulatory frameworks and to lift barriers to the functioning of the Internal Market
for services. Over the last three years, this has been highlighted on many occasions by the European
Council, the Competitiveness Council and the ECOFIN Council.
The Directive required important legislative changes, including the in-depth review of the
regulatory framework applicable to the services sector. It also required the undertaking by Member
States of a number of ambitious projects, such as the setting up of Points of Single Contact for
businesses.
Delivering both the legislative changes and the practical measures required by the Directive needed
a sustained and unprecedented effort throughout all levels of national administrations as well as
strong political backing. For this reason, the Commission deployed since the adoption of the
Directive end 2006 a significant effort to support Member States' implementation work both at
technical and political level. It has also provided regular updates on the state of implementation to
the Council and to the European Parliament
1
.
The Commission continues to be fully committed to support the work of Member States - our
common target should be to ensure an ambitious implementation of the Directive. Moreover, work
does not stop here, certain aspects of the Directive like the Points of Single Contact or the system of
administrative cooperation are long-term projects that should be further developed and expanded
beyond the implementation deadline.
1
See Information Notes made public at the occasion of the Competitiveness Council May 2008
and September 2009
AR/ab
DG C1A
2
6817/10
ANNEX
EN
 PDF to HTML - Convert PDF files to HTML files
839635_0003.png
The objective of this note is to give a first overview of the state of implementation of the Services
Directive as it stands two months after the expiry of the transposition deadline and, where required,
to point out to the need for urgent action on a number of issues and in a number of Member States.
At this very early stage the information provided in the note cannot be but of a factual nature and
does not pretend to be exhaustive. An in-depth assessment of all aspects of implementation and
their quality in the 27 Member States has already started and will continue in the following months.
W
HAT NEEDED TO BE DONE
? -
1.
WHAT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED
?
The review of the legislative framework applicable to the services sectors covered by the
Directive
Member States had to identify and assess the requirements affecting the establishment of service
providers and the cross border provision of their services. This review of legislation required
unprecedented efforts of coordination from Member States - between different departments as well
as the central, regional and local levels in national administrations. The ultimate goal was to
simplify requirements which were burdensome and modify or abolish those that were unjustified,
discriminatory or disproportionate.
Almost all of the Member States have finalised the screening of their legislation. The results have
been communicated to the Commission electronically.
To give an idea of the amount of information received: in total, Member States have communicated
almost 16.000 requirements imposed on the establishment of service providers (authorisation
schemes and other requirements) and over 19.000 requirements imposed on the cross border
provision of services. This "picture" of the state of the Internal Market for services will be assessed
and will constitute the basis for the 2010 "mutual evaluation exercise" foreseen in the Directive. It
will provide a valuable factual base when assessing the need for future policy initiatives.
An already tangible result of the screening process is the "internal market effect" it has created in
Member States: it has forced all those involved in it - whether at central, regional or local level - to
look into their laws and regulations through "internal market glasses" when assessing their domestic
regulation.
6817/10
ANNEX
AR/ab
DG C1A
3
EN
 PDF to HTML - Convert PDF files to HTML files
839635_0004.png
2.
The adoption of implementing legislation
Member States had to implement the general principles and obligations established in the Directive.
Most Member States have opted for the adoption of one horizontal law to do so. An alternative and
equally valid approach is to opt for several specific acts (be them of a cross cutting nature or sector
specific)
1
. In addition, following the review of existing legislation, all Member States needed to
modify/abolish existing laws and regulations to ensure their conformity with the Directive.
"Horizontal legislation"
•
13 Member States have adopted their "horizontal legislation": Bulgaria, the Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain,
the UK and Sweden.
10 Member States have their horizontal legislation in Parliament: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus,
Greece, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.
In 2 Member States – Ireland and Portugal- the drafting of the horizontal legislation does not
seem to be finalised yet.
•
•
"Specific legislation"
•
8 Member States have concluded the adoption of changes in sector specific legislation:
Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands and
Sweden.
Germany and Spain have almost concluded the adoption of changes in sector specific
legislation (some legislation at regional level is still pending in both countries). France has
already adopted a number of important pieces of legislation but still has two proposals
pending in Parliament. The UK also has some legislation pending.
Belgium, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Poland have most of their proposed changes
in sector specific legislation before their Parliaments.
In the remaining 9 Member States - Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg,
Portugal, Romania and Slovenia - the drafting of the required changes to sector specific
legislation has accumulated a significant delay.
•
•
•
To give an idea of the scale and nature of changes in legislation (in total): well over 600 legislative
acts have been modified so far. The changes relate to areas such as retail services, tourism services,
construction services, many services of the regulated professions, business services, etc. They
include administrative simplification measures as well as the lifting of regulatory barriers to the
establishment of businesses and the cross border provision of services.
1
This approach has been followed by France and Germany
AR/ab
DG C1A
4
6817/10
ANNEX
EN
 PDF to HTML - Convert PDF files to HTML files
839635_0005.png
3.
The setting up of the "Points of Single Contact"
Member States had to set up the so-called Points of Single Contact
(PSCs)
to facilitate life for
SMEs in their daily dealings with administrations. The organisational and technical challenges
involved in the setting up of the PSCs are significant. Member States needed to ensure that, as from
end 2009, service providers can obtain all relevant information and complete the required
administrative procedures through a single access point, without having to contact a whole range of
administrative bodies or professional organisations. Member States also need to ensure that
completion of these procedures is possible by electronic means and across borders.
•
A "first generation" of PSCs websites is available now in 21 Member States
1
. These portals
provide businesses with extensive information regarding the procedures and requirements
they need to comply with. In 14 Member States
2
, the PSCs already allow, to different
degrees, for the online completion of procedures.
The Commission has set up an EU portal that allows businesses to easily identify the PSCs
of all Member States
3
. This portal, which is available in all EU languages, has been
launched in January 2010 and provides direct links to all national PSC websites.
Substantive work has been undertaken with Member States to facilitate the cross border use
of electronic procedures in the PSCs. This includes the adoption last year of a Comitology
decision obliging Member States to establish national "trusted lists" with common
information required for the cross border validation of e-signatures
4
. Also a "list of lists" has
been established at EU level to facilitate the use of the national "trusted lists". Further
measures to facilitate the cross border use of e-signatures and e-documents are under
discussion with Member States.
Close cooperation amongst many Member States has emerged in this area. Member States
have developed a "common branding" and logo and have engaged into "mutual testing" of
their PSCs. A large number of Member States have decided to make information content on
their PSC websites available in languages other than their own. Different language versions
of the PSCs are already available in 9 Member States.
•
•
•
1
2
3
4
AT, BE, BG, CY, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, HU, IE, LV, LT, LU, MT, NL, PT, SE, UK
AT, CZ, DK, EE, FI, FR, DE, HU, LT, NL, PT, ES, SE, UK
Http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/eu-go/
Commission Decision 2009/767/EC of 16 October 2009 setting out measures facilitating the
use of procedures by electronic means through the points of single contact under Directive
2006/123/EC on services in the internal market (OJ L 274, 20.10.2009)
AR/ab
DG C1A
5
6817/10
ANNEX
EN
 PDF to HTML - Convert PDF files to HTML files
839635_0006.png
4.
Administrative cooperation obligations - use of the Internal Market Information System
The Services Directive imposes on Member States very specific obligations of direct administrative
cooperation between their authorities. This potentially requires the involvement of a high number of
authorities at all levels of the national administrations as well as professional organisations. To
make this possible technically, a special Services Directive application of the Internal Market
Information system (IMI) has been developed in close cooperation with the Member States. To
make this system work, Member States needed to take organisational decisions, identify the
competent authorities that need to participate in administrative cooperation, train these authorities
and register them in the IMI system.
•
A Comitology decision was adopted last year to make compulsory the use of the Internal
Market Information System (IMI) for the purposes of administrative cooperation under the
Services Directive
1
.
Around 4200 authorities have been trained and registered in the IMI system to date to deal
with "Services Directive" requests. Following a pilot project carried out throughout 2009, a
solid basis for administrative cooperation appears to be in place. Around 1300 exchanges of
information between Member States' authorities have taken place in 2009 on a test basis to
get IMI users acquainted with the system and their obligations under the Directive.
•
W
HAT REMAINS TO BE DONE
? P
RIORITIES FOR ACTION AND NEXT STEPS
Three priority fronts for Member States can be identified at this stage:
•
Finalisation of the screening of legislation in the few remaining countries (Greece,
Slovenia)
where this has not been done. This is the prerequisite to identify the required
changes in existing legislation and it is also essential for the process of mutual evaluation.
In the case of
Ireland and Portugal
it is essential to finalise the drafting of the horizontal
implementing laws. It is equally urgent to finalise the drafting of all required changes in
existing legislation in the case of
Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg,
Portugal, Romania
and
Slovenia.
Urgent work on the Points of Single Contact is required in those countries where either they
are still missing or they are clearly insufficient in their functions (Greece,
Italy, Poland,
Slovakia, Romania,
and
Slovenia).
Equally, most Member States need to step up efforts to
allow for the completion of all procedures and formalities through the PSCs.
•
•
1
Commission Decision 2009/7739/EC of 2 October 2009 setting out the practical arrangements
for the exchange of information by electronic means between Member States under Chapter
VI of Directive 2006/123/EC on services in the internal market (OJ L 263 , 07.10.2009)
AR/ab
DG C1A
6
6817/10
ANNEX
EN
 PDF to HTML - Convert PDF files to HTML files
839635_0007.png
The Commission will continue to work with Member States on key issues such as the improvement
of the Points of Single Contact (which should develop into fully fledged e-government centres), the
lifting of barriers for the use of electronic procedures across border and the use of IMI for the
administrative cooperation obligations under the Directive.
However, it should be clear that in the end, the responsibility for a proper and timely
implementation of the Services Directive lies with Member States and the Commission will not shy
away from taking the steps required to ensure the completeness and quality of its implementation.
The Commission will also make full use the 2010 "mutual evaluation process" foreseen in the
Directive. In the course of this process, already launched, Member States and the Commission will
asses the results of the review and changes in legislation undertaken to implement the Directive.
Interested parties will also be consulted. The objective of this innovative exercise is to create
transparency, exchange best practices and assess the need for further initiatives. As foreseen in the
Directive, the Commission will submit, by the end of the year, a report on the results of the "mutual
evaluation process" to the Council and the European Parliament.
__________
6817/10
ANNEX
AR/ab
DG C1A
7
EN