The EU Council of Ministers voted unanimously for the measure
(although the Belgian and Lithuanian delegations abstained) and the
Council will adopt its common position at a forthcoming meeting
after finalisation of the text. It will then pass to the European
Parliament for a second reading.
Under the new Directive, a business will be able to complete all
formalities for setting up anywhere in the EU online and through a
single point of contact. Tests for "economic needs" – expensive
procedures requiring businesses to prove to authorities that they
will not "destabilise" local competition by setting up – will no
longer be allowed.
The UK is expected to be one of the main beneficiaries of the
Services Directive. Based on a study by Copenhagen Economics, the
Directive is estimated to be worth approximately £5 billion a year
to the UK economy – boosting services such as construction
companies, retailing, management consultancies, advertising
companies, estate agents, architects, plumbers, bakers,
electricians and leisure services.
The Directive has had a difficult journey since first being
proposed in January 2004 and the Council's agreement is based on a
compromise text put forward by the Austrian Presidency which
narrowed the scope of the Directive. Fewer services are caught than
originally planned: financial services, telecoms and healthcare
services are among the exclusions. Also, a 'country of origin'
principle has been removed, which would have entitled European
traders to work in any Member State while complying only with the
relevant laws of the their home state.
