Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-10-03-Speech-3-356"
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"en.20011003.12.3-356"2
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". – Mr President, firstly the Commission would like to emphasise the economic and political importance of its communication on a new internal market strategy for services, which I hope, will henceforth enjoy the European Parliament's full support.
In conclusion, I refer to the earlier discussion between Mrs Berger, Mr Harbour and Mr Beysen on the various merits and demerits of harmonisation, mutual recognition and the country of origin. Large-scale harmonisation may waste time, prove unnecessarily bureaucratic and divert political goodwill and attention away from the key issues that Member States should agree on. It may also contravene the subsidiarity principle in the Treaty.
On the other hand, it must be admitted that harmonisation may be necessary where there is a need to establish a high level of protection, notably for consumers. Mutual recognition, on the other hand, can be made to work more satisfactorily if it is implemented through secondary Community legislation which clearly identifies the areas in which mutual recognition must be accepted. Both principles have their merits and demerits, but by and large I am inclined to agree with Mr Harbour's view that the quickest way of achieving an adequate level of protection for the consumer is to adopt the country-of-origin principle.
In conclusion, may I thank Mr Beysen for his kind remarks on the sales promotion directive adopted by the Commission this week. Lastly may I apologise to Mrs Berger for having omitted previously to thank her on the Commission's behalf for having withdrawn almost all of the amendments tabled on the previous matter.
A functioning internal market in services, far from being a reality, remains an objective to be achieved. It is an objective which ought to be considered a priority if we really want the European economy to become the most competitive in the world by the end of this decade – the ambition we set ourselves in March 2000 in Lisbon. Just to quote a single fact, services account for two-thirds of the European economy and, therefore, any progress we make on that front will greatly benefit the citizens of this continent.
Achieving that goal is rendered all the important by the growing dynamic of the information society, with all its potential for cross-border trade, and by the imminent introduction of the euro, which will increase the transparency of costs and encourage businesses and consumers to look beyond national boundaries for the provision of services.
Unfortunately, at present there are still too many legal and administrative obstacles preventing our businesses and consumers from considering the whole of the European Community as their true domestic market. That means that we are failing to realise the enormous potential for growth and establish a framework in which millions of new jobs can be created.
At no other time in our recent history has it been more important to encourage entrepreneurship, innovation and opportunity. Just as the 1992 campaign enabled us to focus on – and to a large extent achieve – an internal market in goods, it is now crucial for us to concentrate on dismantling the barriers to trade and services. This new strategy seeks, above all to enable two groups – namely small and medium-sized enterprises and consumers – to reap the full benefits of the internal market.
In many instances, small and medium-sized enterprises – which Mr Harbour and Mr Beysen have mentioned also evening – will not have the means to establish themselves in all or several Member States. If they try to do so, they will be faced with the need to expand their infrastructure and with extra financial and administrative burdens. Therefore, they must be allowed to offer their services freely throughout the Community from their establishment.
As far as consumers are concerned, this strategy is designed above all for them. We shall not have succeeded until European consumers have greater access to and a wider choice of, safe and reliable services at more competitive prices, and that means there must be more competition between service providers. The strategy is the first attempt to apply, at Community level, a horizontal approach to trade and services since the General Programme for the removal of barriers to services of 1962 was introduced almost forty years ago. It calls for the cooperation and support of national authorities, the participation of all interested parties and the active engagement of the Community institutions.
The report by Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market has highlighted many of the difficult issues preventing an effective internal market in services from functioning. I am delighted that the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market shares the Commission's philosophy and supports its ambitious approach. I also hope to be able to count on the full support of the European Parliament in implementing both the first and second phases of the strategy. The first phase is now being carried out. This means that existing restrictions to the freedom to provide services and the freedom of establishment are being identified and evaluated. In the second phase, legal and operational instruments for the elimination of barriers will be put in place and our approach will be based on harmonisation, assuring a high level of consumer protection combined with the principles of country of origin and mutual recognition enshrined in the Treaty.
Accordingly, the Commission would not welcome the newly tabled amendments. Those amendments appear to run counter to the principles of mutual recognition and country of origin and, in the Commission's view, would undermine the positive and well-balanced approach of the report, for which the Commission is duly grateful. I should like to thank Mrs Berger on behalf of the Commission for having drafted that report. The Commission feels that the newly tabled amendments would significantly weaken the support of the European Parliament for the proposed internal market approach."@en1
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