Implementation of the Services Directive 2006/123/EC

The Council took note of information from the Commission on the state of play on implementation of the directive on services in the internal market (see document 9475/10). Several delegations provided additional information regarding the progress made in implementing the directive into their national legislations.

Despite progress realised in recent months in several areas and Member States, as set out above, the key priorities identified in the previous assessment remain largely valid:

• in the case of Ireland and Portugal it is essential to finalise the drafting of the horizontal implementing laws. It is equally urgent to finalise the drafting of all required changes in existing legislation in the case of Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Slovenia;
• in the area of the Points of Single Contact, urgent action is required in those countries where either the “points of single contact” (PSCs) are still missing or they are clearly insufficient in their functions (Greece, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia). Equally, most Member States need to step up efforts to allow for the completion of all procedures and formalities through the PSCs.

In addition, it is important to pursue and, in many cases, intensify efforts to register and train competent authorities for the use of the IMI application for services. To ensure the active use of the IMI system it is crucial that competent authorities are aware of their cooperation obligations.

The Council also took note of a Presidency report on the mutual evaluation process (see document 9327/10). Mutual evaluation is based on the results of the screening of national legislation (i.e. the identification, assessment and, when required, modification of requirements affecting service providers) carried out by member states during the implementation period. At the end of the process, the Commission will issue a report to be presented to the Council and the European Parliament.

The services directive aims at eliminating obstacles to trade in services, allowing the development of cross-border operations, bringing down prices and improving quality and choice for consumers.