Brussels, 02/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - Two studies attempt to shed light on the economic and legal impact of future framework legislation on services in the internal market (the much-decried Bolkestein directive). The Danish consultancy “Copenhagen Economics” carried out an assessment for the Commission on the economic consequences of lifting barriers to service provision in the internal market. By request of Belgian Socialist Ann Van Lancker, rapporteur for the parliamentary committee on employment and social affairs, the Institute of Europe Law of the Catholic University of Leuven looked at the legal repercussions of the proposal and its impact on national law. The Commission's services asked the Swiss institute of comparative law to conduct a third study, exclusively on the gaming sector, which is also covered by the “Services” directive, for the end of 2005.
The main conclusion of the study by “Copenhagen Economics” is that “the proposed directive on services will produce significant economic gains in all Member States. Consumers, business and administrations will benefit from increased productivity, higher salaries and low prices”. According to its analysis, the number of jobs created could reach 600,000 throughout the EU and increased consumption a level of some 37 billion EUR. The study identifies the United Kingdom, Italy and the Netherlands as the countries with the most to gain from increased liberalisation of services in terms of increased added value. It sees the introduction of the principle of countries of origin as a major political development with far-reaching consequences (the principle of country of origin, which is a fundamental part of the proposed directive, allows a company to provide its services in another Member State and apply the legislation of its country of origin). The Danish study covers 275,000 companies active in two-thirds of the sectors included in the directive: regulated professions, trade, distribution, IT services, real estate and cleaning. Given the lack of available data, it does not refer to the construction, leisure or healthcare sectors, and is based on estimations for five new Member States (Cyprus, Malta, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia). The method consists of defining an index of national regulatory standards in force for each profession and in each Member State, and to assess the impact on economic activity of lifting standards which are seen as obstacles to service provision, as suggested by the Commission's current proposal (the report has been available on the site of DG “Internal Market” since early February).
Published in September 2004, the study by the Institute of Europe Law of the Catholic University of Leuven analyses the legal repercussions of the proposed directive on services. It shows that “the current proposal will probably create uncertainty for service providers and users”; According to the Institute, the proposal “does not take account of the specific nature of various services, such as healthcare, social and employment-related services”, and could lead to “deregulation of national markets governed by national provisions and including quality standards and financial support”. On the principle of the country of origin, the study concludes that “the proposal does not establish a sufficient level of mutual trust between the Member States”, which is a necessary condition for the principle to be applied. It therefore suggests “pursuing the process of harmonisation at European level” in terms of qualitative norms, protection of public order, training, professional qualifications and supervision mechanisms. The study reveals a “lack of coordination”, even a conflict, with other Community texts, such as directive 96/71/EC on seconded workers and regulation (EEC) 1408/71 on the application of social security regimes to salaried workers. Furthermore, the proposal “pre-empts a number of future Community [legislative] initiatives” under discussion on patient mobility, the White Paper on services of general interest, the recognition of professional qualifications and the proposed directive on working conditions for temporary staff. Lastly, the Institute feels that the directive ignores the regional normative level, stopping the regions from issuing authorisations applicable on their territory in cases where, in certain Member States, they currently have the competency to do this.
Without establishing a clear link with the proposed directive on “Services”, the Commission asked the Swiss institute of comparative law to look at the state of progress in the internal market for gaming services. In this field, several cases related to the freedom to provide services and freedom of establishment in the internal market have been brought before the Court of Justice. Some twenty Member States have asked the gaming sector to be excluded from the scope of the directive (see EUROPE of 14 September 2004).