Brussels, 20/07/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has decided to send a reasoned opinion to Italy, which employs "work consultants" in the elaboration and production of payslips or other non- official staff. The Commission is basing its case on the jurisprudence of the Court (ruling of 17 October 2002 in the Payroll C-79/01 affair) and considers that this exclusivity is unjustifiable when these services essentially involve the execution of these tasks.
In Italy if a service provider for companies that employ less than 250 people, the data processing has to be done exclusively by "work consultants". This activity does not just exclude Community nationals whose criteria are different in their countries of origin for an equivalent activity but it also demands a residency certificate to be able to be put on the official resister. Consequently, these conditions breach the principle of freedom to provide services in the single market and constitutes and additional obstacle to the freedom of movement for services.