Voorstellen van Europees Economisch en Sociaal Comité over Dienstenrichtlijn (en)

EESC points way forward to solution on Services Directive

The European Economic and Social Committee's opinion criticises the Commission proposal, calls for the scope of the Services Directive to be clarified and makes proposals on what is needed.

At its Plenary Session on 10 February the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted a major opinion on Services in the Internal Market, which points the way to a compromise in the debate on the Commission's proposal for a Directive on the subject.

The Committee, after a lengthy and difficult debate, which recognised the key role of the service sector in the implementation of the European Internal Market and its fundamental importance to economic growth in the EU, adopted a series of proposals setting out clear and concrete indications on how the debate should proceed and what changes are needed to the draft Directive.

Taking into account the criticisms which have been levelled at the Commission proposal and the likely fault lines, which will divide the debate in the European Parliament and the Council, the EESC, as the EU consultative body representing the views of organised civil society in the EU, draws attention to:

• the need to produce the assessments of the proposed Directive necessary to address the concerns of the interests of organised civil society across Europe;
• the need to set out more clearly the scope of the Directive and the distinctions between different types of services.

The EESC proposes:

• a two-stage transition period leading to the application of the country-of-origin principle, recognising that there are areas where there are at present no standards or where the principle would be impossible to apply. An immediate application of the principle could lead to a watering down of standards. The new provisions should be easy to apply to achieve smooth implementation;
• no watering down of existing social protection, wage and safety standards in the work place as a result of the Directive. National arrangements for collective negotiations and agreements, including implementation of rules on the posting of workers, should not be adversely affected;
• clarification of the scope, derogations and rules in conflict of laws in the application of the country of origin principle to cross-border service provision;
• improvements in record keeping to allow the effects of the Directive to be better evaluated;
• a consistent approach to implementation of tax rules by Member States to allow simplification of cross-border service provision;
• the introduction of codes of conduct at European level to guarantee levels of service;
• quality assurance and pricing transparency to ensure protection of consumers.

The Rapporteur for the opinion, Mr Arno Metzler (Group 3 - "Other Interests", Germany) and the Co-Rapporteur, Mr Ernst-Erik Ehnmark (Group 2 - "Employees", Sweden), speaking after the adoption of the opinion said "the adoption of this opinion demonstrates that it is possible within the EU for representatives of civil society (not only employers and employees, but also representatives of professionals, farmers, representatives of the elderly, environmental groups etc.) to agree the way forward for this key proposal for the implementation of the EU Internal Market.

`The EESC is the first EU body to be able to make proposals on how to move forward. Our aim is to put pressure on the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission to move quickly to adopt the kind of approach the opinion advocates. We believe it offers a pragmatic solution to meeting the kinds of problems which have arisen. We have managed to find a formula on the key points of difficulty - the country-of-origin principle, the posting of workers and services of public interest.'

For more details, please contact :

Vasco de Oliveira or Christian Weger at the EESC Press Office.

Rue Belliard 99, B-1040; Bruxelles

Tel.: 02 546 9396/9586; Mobile: 0475 753 202

e-mail : press@esc.eu.int

Website: http://www.esc.eu.int/press/index_en.asp