SERVICES DIRECTIVE (8143/06)
Letter from the Chairman to Rt Hon Ian
McCartney MP, Minister for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs,
Department of Trade and Industry/Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Thank you for your letter of 24 July 2006.[43]
Sub-Committee B considered your letter at its meeting on 9 October.
We are grateful to you for your update on the
progress of the Services Directive through the European Parliament,
and look forward to a further update in advance of the Second
Reading. We also look forward to receiving your response to our
report, The Services Directive Revisited,[44]
which was published on 24 July.
10 October 2006
Letter from Rt Hon Ian McCartney MP to
the Chairman
Thank you for your letter of 10 October, concerning
my letter on preparation for the Second Reading in the European
Parliament. By now you will have already received my response
to the points made in your report entitled "Services Directive
Revisited".
Regarding the Second Reading, it appears, by
gauging opinion from my meetings with key MEPs, that the majority
of MEPs wish to avoid re-opening the debate on the Services Directive,
in recognition of the compromises made by the Council in order
to achieve an acceptable result. I will continue to urge MEPs
against amending the Directive, so that we do not lose vital substance
at the final hurdle. The European Parliament's Internal Market
and Consumer Protection Committee, which leads on the directive,
made the welcome decision not to propose any changes to the text
at its vote on 23 October.
I now expect the second reading vote to take
place on 15 November and will write again then to inform you of
the outcome.
31 October 2006
Leter from Rt Hon Ian McCartney MP to
the Chairman
Further to my letter of 19 October 2006[45]
responding to the EU Internal Market Sub-Committee's report on
EM 8413/06, and my letter of 31 October, I am writing to update
you on the outcome of the European Parliament's vote on the second
reading of the Services Directive, which took place on 15 November
2006.
The Parliament voted through three technical
amendments (related to comitology—which are attached)—which
means that the political agreement reached at the 29 May Council,
which the UK strongly supported, has been preserved. The Directive
continues to achieve a good balance between opening up EU markets
to service providers whilst ensuring standards are maintained
in important areas such as health and safety and employment law.
Pressure to dilute the liberalising elements of the Directive
were resisted and the scope remains unchanged. I am sure that
the Committee will agree that this is an excellent result.
We expect the Directive incorporating the European
Parliament's three second reading amendments to be formally adopted
by the Council in the very near future, possibly at the 4 December
2006 Competitiveness Council and published soon thereafter. There
will be three years to transpose the Directive.
As the Committee recognised, implementation
will be key to reaping the huge benefits offered by the Services
Directive and my officials have begun working with government
departments, the Commission and other Member States to try to
ensure there is EU-wide consistency in the approach and effective
transposition. I should like to take this opportunity to respond
to Lord Grenfell's question in his letter of 3 November 2006.
The implementation period was extended in recognition of the large
task ahead. The UK is well advanced in its implementation planning
and we are, with the Commission, encouraging other Member States
to start the process now and build on the current momentum. We
have already begun working with some Member States and expect
to work closely with all in the coming year.
The Committee is well aware that negotiations
on this Directive were turbulent. We are now at the stage where
formal adoption is imminent, and although all Member States made
compromises, I am pleased that we have achieved a text which is
genuinely beneficial to the EU, and particularly to the UK, service
sector.
I am very grateful to the Committee for their
swift and thorough examination of the draft Directive and I will
of course ensure that the Committee is alerted to any future developments
including the publication of the final text.
24 November 2006
Letter from the Chairman to Rt Hon Ian
McCartney MP
Thank you for your letter of 24 November 2006
which Sub-Committee B considered at its meeting on 4 December.
We were grateful to you for your updates following
the European Parliament's second reading of the Directive, and
pleased that only technical amendments were made. As you will
have gathered from our report, we share your assessment that "implementation
will be key" to the success or failure of the Directive in
delivering genuine progress on the liberalisation of the EU's
services sector.
We are therefore reassured by your promise to
work closely with the Commission and with other Member States
to ensure that the Directive is evenly and thoroughly implemented
across the EU. In particular, it is vital that Member States are
not rewarded for reluctance or half-measures in establishing the
points of single contact for service providers established in
other Member States. Unless these are set up properly, the Directive
will not provide for a single market in any meaningful sense.
We would like to extend our thanks to you, and
through you your Department, which has kept the Committee informed
with the "turbulent" progress of the Services Directive
in exemplary fashion,
We share your hope that this Directive will
constitute a genuine step forward, and although we regret some
of the revisions which the current text embodies, we recognise
that compromise was necessary.
We would be grateful to you if you could write
to us further after the December Competitiveness Council.
6 December 2006
Letter from Rt Hon Ian McCartney MP to
the Chairman
Thank you for your letter of 6 December 2006.
I note with gratitude your appreciative remarks.
You will be pleased to learn that the Directive
was officially published on 27 December 2006. We can provide a
copy of the final text to the Clerk of Sub-Committee B.
The implementation project is now underway and
the DTI will be consulting relevant government departments, competent
authorities and interested parties throughout the duration of
the project to ensure we implement effectively.
The Committee may wish to be aware that the
European Commission are planning a series of workshops for Member
States on specific aspects relating to implementation. The first
workshop, is scheduled for mid-February on the "points of
single contact". The UK will be one of the lead speakers.
These workshops will be a good opportunity to exchange experience
between Member States on the requirements and challenges associated
with the implementation of points of single contact and to encourage
the development of best practice.
The DTI will shortly be launching a study involving
a wide spectrum of UK and European businesses on what the Directive's
requirements mean in practical terms and what our users would
find most useful from both the UK Points of Single Contact and
those elsewhere. The results will help us to develop an effective
and useful website and will be used in our regular contacts with
the Commission, other Member States and stakeholders at UK and
EU level. We shall also be encouraging other Member States to
undertake some similar work with their stakeholders and potential
users.
The Department will continue to update you on
developments at key stages of the project.
15 January 2007
Letter from the Chairman to Rt Hon Ian
McCartney MP
Thank you for your letter of 15 January 2007,
replying to my letter of 6 December 2006. Sub-Committee B considered
your letter at its meeting on 5 February.
We were very grateful to you for your update
on the Services Directive, which we have followed particularly
closely as you are aware. As we have noted before in our follow-up
report, The Services Directive Revisited, as well as in
our corespondence with you, the implementation of the Directive
by Member States, particularly of the points of single contact,
will be key to its success or failure.
We look forward to hearing updates from you
on the progress of the cooperation between the Commission and
interested parties, and will liaise with the House of Lords Select
Committee on the Merits of Statutory Instruments as and when secondary
legislation arises in the UK.
7 February 2007
43 Correspondence with Ministers, 40th Report of Session
2006-07, HL Paper 187, pp 135-136. Back
44
38th Report of Session 2005-06, HL Paper 215. Back
45
Remaining Government Responses Session 2004-05; Government Responses
Session 2005-06, HL Paper 182, pp 141-143. Back
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