Tánaiste Publishes a Consultation Document on the Transposition of the EU ‘Services Directive’

‘Single Market will provide opportunities for service providers and benefits to consumers – Tánaiste

The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan today (Tuesday 4th August 2009) announced the publication of a Consultation Document on the transposition into Irish law of the Directive on services in the internal market.

The objective of the Services Directive, one of the most important initiatives adopted by the EU in recent years, is to create a Single Market in commercial services in the European Union so that both businesses and consumers can take advantage of the opportunities it offers and can benefit more easily from the fundamental freedoms guaranteed in the EC Treaty – the freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services across borders.

The Tánaiste said: “With the current economic downturn inevitably affecting the contribution of our services exports, which in 2007 was valued at €66 billion, to the Irish economy, the Services Directive is now more important than ever for Irish service providers to be able to compete on a level playing field with others in the EU, and for Irish consumers to gain greater access to services at more competitive prices”.

The Directive also contains important provisions on consumer protection, and on administrative co-operation arrangements between Member States. These arrangements provide a mechanism for supervising the activities of businesses and are intended to create trust and confidence in the Single Market on the part of service providers, service recipients (including consumers) and the relevant supervisory authorities in Member States.

The Tánaiste said: “the increasing importance of services in developed economies and their potential to contribute to economic growth in Ireland, as highlighted in the Forfás Services Strategy Group’s 2008 report Catching the Wave, mean that timely and proper transposition of the Services Directive is crucial. I believe that the wide consultation process now being undertaken will greatly contribute to the proper transposition of this important piece of legislation”.

“The proposed Regulations when they come into effect in December of this year, will have implications for the providers of most, though not all, services, for the bodies that authorise or otherwise regulate them, and for the users of services, and I would urge all stakeholders to review the document thoroughly and to let my Department have views on the draft provisions before the 30th September deadline”, the Tánaiste concluded.

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Notes for Editors

The Consultation Process is an opportunity to provide inputs into the transposition into Irish law of the Services Directive (2006/123/EC, OJ L 376, 27.12.2006).

The Consultation Document, which is available at http://www.djei.ie//trade/marketaccess/singlemarket/servicesdirective_cons.htm is intended to be read in conjunction with the European Commission’s Handbook on the Transposition of the Directive (http://www.djei.ie/trade/marketaccess/singlemarket/handbook_en.pdf).

It includes a preliminary draft of the Regulations under which the majority of the Directive’s provisions will be transposed into Irish law together with explanatory notes on all its provisions

The Consultation Document is the second element in the public consultation process relating to the transposition of the Directive, which has been underway since earlier this year. It complements the draft Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) on the Directive (http://www.djei.ie/trade/marketaccess/singlemarket/09RIA007a.pdf), published by the Department in March last. The RIA will be updated following the consultation process.

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