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EC Threatens to Take Action Against Five States Over Freedom of Services
The European Commission said Monday it has decided to take Germany, France, Italy, Portugal and the Netherlands to court unless they removed obstacles to the provision of certain cross-border services.
The executive branch of the European Union (EU) said that it considers the five countries violate EU laws by restricting the freedom to provide services in fields ranging from medicine to engineering and patent agents.
"Failing a satisfactory response within two months, the commission may decide to refer the member state concerned to the ( European) Court of Justice," it said in a statement.
The legal warning was sent in the form of a "reasoned opinion," the second stage of a EU infringement procedure. If found guilty of a breach of EU rules, a country can be fined.
The EU executive said Paris was preventing foreign medical laboratories from opening a branch in France unless they already had licensed operations in France. It also blamed France for failing to waive a clause in its mining code which prevents private operators from requesting a coal mining permit.
In Germany, patent agents established in another EU country can operate only after having named a German-based lawyer as their representative. The commission considered this requirement a " disproportionate measure" contrary to the EU rules.
The commission also criticized an Italian law which prohibits engineers from taking part in calls for tenders if the projects are worth less than 200,000 euros. Brussels said it believed this rule was seriously impeding foreign engineers from taking part in tenders in Italy.
In two other cases, Portugal and the Netherlands were limiting the provision of security services by restricting them to companies established in their own country and by asking personnel to obtain a professional qualification in that country, the commission said.
The Netherlands were not recognizing equivalent professional qualifications obtained in another EU member state, it added.
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