A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF THE

Chapter 2

The Services Directive Proposal

Of course the fundamental freedoms set out in the Treaty of European Union are central to the success and functioning of the EU Internal Market . Two of these were of great importance for the Internal Market : freedom of establishment (Article 43 and the freedom to provide cross b services (Article 49 While the former provides access for operators to practice their economical activities in one or more Member States , the latter enables an operator providing services in a Member State to do the same [banner_entry_middle]

in another Member State temporarily without being obliged to get established there . Obviously these have legal implications

This means , in practice , that Member States must modify national laws that restrict freedom of establishment , or the freedom to provide services , and are therefore incompatible with these principles . This includes not only discriminatory national rules , but also any national rules which are indistinctly applicable to domestic and foreign operators but which hinder or render less attractive the exercise of these “fundamental freedoms , in particular if they result in delays or additional costs

The Internal Market has effected a number of real benefits particularly in some sectors and generally in providing employment and freedom of movement for operators ?900 billion on average about ?6000 per family in the EU Competition has increased as companies find new markets abroad Prices have converged (in many cased downwards ) and the range and quality of products available to consumers have increased ‘Later in 1992 Jacque Delor proposed and implemented a programme aimed at creating a single market by eliminating non-tariff barriers to goods trading . Although the programme has been beneficial but it leaves room for substantial progress in that services can be offered across bs smoothly . In 2002 EU commission studied the numerous barriers that affect the flow of services across the bs of Europe . It was found that these barriers , including legal restrictions , difficulties in obtaining the required authorisation from local authorities and the length and complexity of procedures , made it almost impossible for some businesses to get established in countries other than their origin

However , on 7 May 2003 the European Commission implemented its Internal Market Strategy for the period of 2003-2006

The Strategy concentrates heavily on removing many of the barriers that prevent businesses in the services sector from operating across Europe . The commission views improvements in this sector as essential to meeting the targets of the 2000 Lisbon package , given that services now account for around two-thirds of the EU ‘s GDP

The Commission also pointed out that the enforcement of EU legislation was not effective in a way that it itself become one of the barriers . Within these strategies and in to address the problem of removing barriers hindering the flow of services within the Member States , the Commission proposed a Service Directive aimed at enabling service providers of the Member States to establish themselves and provide services in States other than they originally come from

In January 2004 HYPERLINK… [banner_entry_footer]