On Monday 2 September, Finnish Minister of Employment Timo Harakka underlined to MEPs of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) the Finnish Presidency of the EU Council's commitment to make the internal market in services more efficient and to make progress in the notification procedure for services.
The minister thus reiterated the need to remove cross-border obstacles and focus on services, which is one of the Presidency's priorities (see EUROPE 12302/7), in particular by strengthening transparency and the harmonisation of European legislation.
The proposal for a directive on a procedure for the notification of services is "essential to ensure the efficiency of services in the internal market", he stressed. "Today, the notification procedure of the services directive is not working as expected, which means that national regulations on a number of services could in fact run counter to the very objectives of the services directive", he explained, before showing a firm commitment to finding an interinstitutional compromise.
The minister highlighted the need to develop an action plan to ensure compliance with the implementation of internal market rules.
The text is blocked in the EU Council because of provisions attributed to the European Commission - which could suspend a national legislative act for three months - considered excessive (see EUROPE 12011/12, 12137/37). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)