Brussels, 24/09/2004 (Agence Europe) - The President of the Competitiveness Council, Laurens Jan Brinkhorst, described himself as "pleasantly surprised" by the results of the discussion on the "services" directive, at Thursday evening's informal dinner between ministers responsible for the internal market.
The fight is not won, as most Member States are opposed to one or other point of the text, which aims to open up the European services market by generalising the principle of mutual recognition. Some countries, such as France, Luxembourg, Germany, Italy and Austria, are calling for regulated professions to be excluded. Most are calling for the health sector to be left out. The questions of workers sent abroad and the risks of working on the black market are of concern to most Member States (see EUROPE of 14 September, p.14).
Laurens Jan Brinkhorst said he was "convinced that we will move on, but we must be realistic: difficult negotiations await us". On the substance, he said that "there is no fundamental deadlock on the principle of countries of origin". Germany in particular climbed down, according to Dutch sources. The Dutch ministers feels it is clear that "certain sectors will not be covered" by the directive, and that "there is no question of reducing the quality of healthcare services or environmental protection".
Whatever the case may be, the directive "will not be adopted before the Luxembourg presidency", as the new Parliament cannot pronounce itself at first reading before December, said the Council President. (It is worth noting that the Parliament's rapporteur on the subject, Evelyne Gebhardt, has already started work and will organise a hearing in October.)
According to a report on the impact of the directive, commissioned by the Presidency, services represent 10% of trade between Member States, said Laurens Jan Brinkhorst. With the application of the principle of mutual recognition, the bilateral trade of services could grow to 15-35%, said the report.