Brussels, 03/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - According to research published by Eurochambres on Tuesday 30 June, the 'Points of Single Contact' - PSC, a flagship measure from the EU's 2006 services directive have only proved partially convincing.
Based on a range of indicators set out in the One-Stop Shop Charter, the study shows that the performance of the member states' PSCs is weak, with an average rate of 54%. Only two member states achieve above 75% , namely Luxembourg and Cyprus, with Latvia (approx. 39%) and Germany (around 35%) bringing up the rear among the 28 member states. Typhaine Beauperin-Holvoet, Eurochambres policy advisor, told this newsletter that the bad results in Germany are due to the extremely fragmented nature of the one-stop shops, arising from their federal structure. In North Rhine-Westphalia, each city has its own PSC, which makes the work of European companies wishing to set up there much more complicated. She explained that the federal structure made things far more complicated for companies, giving also the example of Austria, which also has bad results (just above 40%).
“It is unacceptable that more than five years after the deadline, the PSCs are not living up to expectations and are failing to simplify life for companies that want to do business in the EU,” said Arnaldo Abruzzini, secretary general of Eurochambres, an association representing chambers of commerce and industry in Europe.
Eurochambres wants the Commission to apply zero tolerance, as has already been threatened by Internal Makret and Industrial Policy Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska (see EUROPE 11234), and to issue infringement proceedings. The PSC were measured using compulsory and voluntary criteria and in the future, Eurochambres would like all criteria to be compulsory. Eurochambres wants to see an end to the varying treatment of goods and services at the PSC in order to create a genuine single entry point for companies. Bienkowska explained that goods were often strongly dependent on services.
In 2013, the European Commission and the member states adopted a charter on one-stop shops that defines four performance assessment criteria, namely: quality and availability of information, the possibility to complete formalities online, counter accessibility from other countries, and ease of use. The member states listed a number of voluntary criteria, such as registration for VAT and social security, in order to create a second generation of PSCs. (Pascal Hansens)