Providing services across EU borders: DTI consults

The EU Directive on Services in the Internal Market will affect most services and aims to:

• get rid of unjustifiable or onorous national restrictions;
• simplify authorisation and licensing procedures;
• create single points of contact to help with all the necessary formalities; and
• allow service providers established in one Member State to trade across borders in another Member State, under their home country's regulations.

Announcing the start of the UK consultation, Industry Minister Jacqui Smith said:

"We want practical solutions to the problems UK firms face trying to trade abroad. But we also need to ensure that the UK is a good place to do business, and that consumers are aware of their rights."

The DTI acknowledges that, at present, many businesses, especially SMEs, find it too costly to even start cutting through the red tape. Those that do have complained of the high costs involved and the waste of resources.

The DTI is asking both service providers and consumers for their experiences of barriers to cross-border service trade in the EU and whether the European Commission's ideas for cutting red tape will make trading in services easier.

The proposals must be agreed by a majority of Member States and by the European Parliament. The European Commission would like the proposals to come into effect by the end of 2007.

The consultation ends on 30th June 2004.