Brussels, 14/12/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 13 December, the European Commission took measures to put an end to a number of obstacles to freedom of establishment in France, Germany and Portugal.
The Commission sent a reasoned opinion to Paris inviting it to amend its regulations whereby cereal traders are under an obligation to obtain authorisation from an institution where potential competitors are represented, on condition that it has storage facilities in France, as well as the regulations making it an obligation for cereal traders to have an address and minimum activity in France, to establish monthly statistics and to present all their commercial documents. The Commission considers such restrictions incompatible with the freedom of establishment and free provision of services. With another reasoned opinion, the Commission also calls on France to amend its regulations on the establishment of businesses. It considers that the authorisation procedure is based on criteria that are insufficiently objective and precise, most of which aim to evaluate the potential economic impact of opening up a new business, and that it is unwieldy and unfair in so far as it gives a decision-making role to representatives of existing economic operators. The Commission considers these provisions are not compatible with freedom of establishment.
The Commission also decided to take action at the Court of Justice against Germany regarding conditions governing the granting of authorisations for automobile technical control bodies, including the compulsory association of a minimum number of independent (non-salaried) experts. On the same theme, the Commission sent a reasoned opinion to Portugal inviting it to amend its regulations on the granting of authorisations to bodies of other Member States wishing to carry out automobile inspection activities in Portugal. (ol)