Strasbourg, 28/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 27 September, the European Parliament adopted the report by Lasse Lehtinen (PES, Finland) on the obligations of cross-border service providers. It calls on the European Commission to present, within 12 months, “a work programme” assessing the following: - “the need for a possible broad horizontal instrument to align the rules on cross-border service provision” in such areas as information on prices, contract terms and recourse in the event of defective or delayed services; - “the impact of existing and upcoming legislation in the internal market to the field of obligations of cross-border services providers”.
In adopting the joint amendment by British MEPs Diana Wallis (ALDE) and Malcolm Harbour (EPP-ED), Parliament removed the paragraph in the draft report that came from the Parliamentary internal market and consumer protection committee, which called on the Commission to draw up a voluntary “code of conduct” “to enhance consumer confidence (and) containing a certification of quality mechanism and a system for settling disputes”. However, they adopted a joint ALDE, PES and Greens/EFA amendment calling on the Commission “to continue active consideration of the introduction of a legal instrument at Community level to facilitate collective action by consumers on a cross-border basis so as to allow greater access to legal redress”.
The Lehtinen report highlights “the different laws, regulations and administrative practices in the member states (which) cause uncertainty and lack of transparency for both service providers and consumers”. It says there is a need to harmonise the laws relating to the obligations of service providers. The directive on services in the internal market, which is to be transposed by the end of 2009, is likely to have “a considerable impact” on the cross-border provision of services, says the report, even though it does not address the obligations on service providers. (mb)