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High Level Group on Administrative Burden Implementation of the Services Directive Claire Bury, DG MARKT, Director E "Services" 5 December 2013 03/04/2016 Content 1. Services Directive and administrative simplification 2. Mutual evaluation & peer review 3. Points of Single Contact 03/04/2016 Services Directive 2006/123/EC Objective: make progress towards a genuine Single Market in Services How: – By simplifying administrative procedures; – Removing obstacles for services activities (when establishing and providing services cross-border); – Enhancing trust between Member States and the confidence of providers and consumers in the Single Market. 03/04/2016 Services covered by the Services Directive 03/04/2016 Key provisions for administrative simplification Article 5: Simplification of procedures Article 6-8: Points of Single Contact Articles 9 – 13: Authorisations, including: – Conditions for granting authorisations (non- discriminatory, proportionate, justified, clear and ambiguous, objective, made public in advance, transparent and accessible) – Nationwide validity of authorisations – Duration of authorisations – Tacit approval Article 14: List of prohibited requirements (economic test, involvement of competitors, nationality requirements etc.) Article 16: Freedom to provide services 03/04/2016 Communication on the implementation of the Services Directive (June 2012) • All MS implemented the Services Directive; • 'Zero tolerance' policy for unequivocal obligations; • However, the level of ambition differs, especially in areas where the level of discretion left to the MS: – Article 15 requirements to be evaluated (quantitative and territorial restrictions, legal form and shareholding requirements, tariffs etc.) – Article 16 freedom to provide services • Economic study : the abolishment of almost all restrictions within the scope of the Services Directive could bring the additional gain of 1.8% of GDP (total economic gains of 2.6% of GDP in 5-10 years). 03/04/2016 Is there still potential in the Services Directive? • Additional growth potential exists (up to 1.8% GDP) • But this requires more ambition from the Member States – Areas as legal form and shareholding requirements – Requirements imposed on cross-border service providers • PSC have tremendous potential for contributing to administrative simplification • In general time to take a wider look again at how the IM works for services and what the obstacles are on the ground. 03/04/2016 Mutual evaluation & peer review exercises 03/04/2016 Mutual evaluation (2010) • Foreseen in Article 39 of the Services Directive: – to assess a number of legal requirements typically imposed on service providers; – requirements not strictly forbidden by the Directive but where a an assessment of justification and proportionality had to be done by the MS: • On establishment , such as authorisation schemes, territorial restrictions or capital ownership restrictions • Cross-border service provision: such as registration, notification and insurance obligations • Outcome: – Around 34,000 MS requirements covered – Some maintained, some changed, some abolished 03/04/2016 Peer review (2012-2013) • Focus exclusively on legal form, shareholding and tariffs requirements (5 activities concerned: accountants, architects, patent agents, tax advisors and vets); • To discuss and to better understand the existing regulatory approaches in Member States; • To explore some alternative regulatory models, giving Member States the possibility to learn from each other's experience; • Professional services chosen due to their importance for the whole economy. 03/04/2016 Results of the peer review • Legal form and shareholding have an impact on both primary and secondary establishment • Public interest objectives are largely the same in all Member States, with high quality of services and independence of the profession, cited most frequently. • However, the means chosen to meet those objectives in many cases diverge. • Proportionality assessment of imposed requirements, not done thoroughly enough, in particular where different requirements are applied cumulatively. • Some MS relaxed their rules , other still maintain them. 03/04/2016 Points of Single Contact 03/04/2016 Why PSCs are crucial for administrative simplification? • Contribute to the simplification of the administrative environment for business by: – Introducing a shift from paper-based administration to electronic ones – Increasing e-procedures to cut red tape • In the medium and long run - generate savings for the public administrations • Reduce transaction costs and time for businesses • Ensure transparency and legal certainty about legal requirements 03/04/2016 PSCs state of play • All PSCs in place • But most of them do not yet live up to the businesses' expectations • Too often offer only services covered by the Services Directive • Not all procedures online, their cross-border completion remains particularly challenging • Low user-friendliness & foreign language (availability and extend of coverage) • Improvement ongoing but further efforts necessary in particlar on e-procedures 03/04/2016 PSCs: way forward • PSC Charter agreed with the MS: – Supported by HLG of the Competitiveness Council in June 2013 and reinforced by a commitment in Competiveness Council conclusions December 2013 • Sets criteria for successful PSCs that go beyond the Services Directive • PSCs to become comprehensive e-government portals for businesses • EC will assess the progress achieved 03/04/2016