Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-11-11-Speech-3-152"
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"en.20091111.17.3-152"2
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"Madam President, I would like to thank the European Parliament for putting forward this timely oral question, particularly also on behalf of my colleague, Charlie McCreevy, on the state of the implementation of the Services Directive.
Let me now reply in more detail to your question.
So, almost all Member States have completed the process of ‘screening’ their national legislation. Some are still working on it. The extent to which the screening has contributed to an effective transposition of the directive is, of course, also somewhat difficult to assess at this stage. The transposition deadline has not yet expired, and Member States have not yet submitted their legislative changes to the Commission.
But it is clear that an ambitious and thorough process of screening is crucial to ensure the ‘internal market friendliness’ of national legislation in each and every Member State. And it is also crucial for the competitiveness of our services sector in general.
As regards the points of single contact, it seems clear that most Member States will at least have basic, practical, point-of-single-contact solutions in place by the end of 2009. These will, again, not be totally perfect, but they should form a solid basis. Member States should continue developing and upgrading the points of single contact which, in the long run, should become fully-fledged e-government centres.
In this context, the Commission agrees with the importance of providing additional information and procedures through the points of single contact, such as those related to workers rights and taxation. Businesses and consumers need to be aware of the applicable rules. But as you know, this is not mandatory under the directive.
We expect, as the points of single contact consolidate and develop, this information will also be provided. Indeed, some Member States are already planning to do so.
As regards the implementation of the directive in the area of social services – to the extent that they are covered by it – this does not seem to have raised particular problems. The directive itself contains mechanisms to ensure the specificities of these services are taken into account.
Finally, I think it is clear that stakeholders have played a vital role throughout the implementation process. They have followed Member States’ efforts closely and have been involved in implementation in different ways, and we will ensure that stakeholders are consulted next year during the evaluation of the results of the implementation.
So we need to find a method to ensure that this consultation is targeted and very concrete.
Finally, many Member States have had open consultation on the draft implementing legislation during the legislative process. Some stakeholder organisations have even organised regular surveys with their members on the state of implementation. Let us say it is important to be realistic and honest at this stage of the process. A lot still remains to be done in the area of implementation, and those Member States who are behind schedule need to make extra efforts.
It is a little less than two months before the implementation deadline, and it is a good time to look back on the work that has been done so far and to take stock of where things are today.
I remain convinced, however, that the glass is more than half full. But we had better keep filling it and quickly.
The Services Directive is one of the most important initiatives adopted in recent years. It has a great potential to remove barriers to trade in the internal market and to modernise our public administrations, and proper implementation becomes even more pressing in the current economic context. We know that very well and the European Parliament, and in particular, its Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, have not only played a key role in making its adoption possible but the Commission also particularly appreciated your continued interest in monitoring the work done by the Member States to implement the directive.
For our part, the Commission has delivered on its commitment to facilitate the implementation process. This was already mentioned. We have taken Member States’ requests for technical assistance seriously and we have deployed unprecedented efforts and resources to support their work. More than 80 bilateral meetings with all the Member States were held and expert groups met in Brussels over 30 times during the last three years.
But the Commission cannot carry out the implementation at national level. This is the role of Member States, and transposing the Services Directive has been a challenging task for them.
It has been challenging because it involved the carrying out of several large-scale projects, such as the setting-up of ‘points of single contact’ and the review and simplification of legislation relating to services. It has been challenging also because it involved intensive coordination between all levels of the administration, be it at national, regional or local level.
So where do things stand today? And will Member States deliver?
Just over half of Member States seem to be in a position to achieve the implementation of the Services Directive by the end of 2009 deadline or in the beginning of 2010. Some Member States might be late. This is not entirely satisfactory, in particular, for citizens and businesses wanting to make use of their rights in the internal market. Although the situation is not unusual compared to other internal market directives, it gives some reason for concern.
But it must also be taken into account that, perhaps more than for any other directive, Member States needed to address a huge amount of difficult legal and practical issues. And given this, the result that we hope to achieve by the beginning of next year may actually be considered as quite good."@en1
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