The Commission presents a Staff working document which comprises an ex ante evaluation – assessment of the need to establish a multi-annual programme in order to organise training and exchanges of officials in charge of the implementation of mutual assistance under the Services Directive (2006/123/EC). This document accompanies the Commission report on training and exchanges of officials in charge of the implementation of mutual assistance under the Services Directive.
The overall results of the assessment suggest that there is currently no need to adopt a multi-annual programme for training and exchanges of officials. Such a programme would be premature, at a point in time when cooperation under the Services Directive has only just become mandatory and operational. The Commission and coordinators need to gain more experience in order to be able to identify the medium- and long-term needs for training and, potentially, exchanges of officials. In the meantime, the Commission will continue its current efforts in supporting Member States in raising awareness for administrative cooperation and in training Internal Market Information System (IMI) users, which have been very successful so far.