Current
Position
Luxembourg Presidency
The
Luxembourg Presidency, which ran from 1 January 2005 to 30
June 2005, made good progress on the technical aspects of the
Directive. They concentrated on three Chapters: Chapter II –
Establishment; Chapter IV – Quality of Services; and Chapter V
– Mutual Assistance.
UK Presidency
The UK
Presidency ran from 1 July 2005 to 31 December 2005. During
these six months we have made good progress in Council Working
Group, looking at key proposals in the Directive: Chapter I –
General Provisions; and Chapter III – Free Movement of
Services.
We
also focused on other technical areas in the Directive:
Articles 22-23 – Rights of Recipients of Services; Article 27
– Professional Indemnity Insurance; and Chapter VI –
Convergence Programme.
Commission
In
its Spring Report published
in February 2005, the Commission restated its commitment to
moving forward with the negotiations on the Services
Directive. The Commission emphasised it would actively and
constructively engage with the European Parliament, the
Council and stakeholders to seek agreement. We expect the
Commission to produce a revised text after the European
Parliament’s first reading.
European
Parliament
In
the European Parliament the
draft report
produced by the Rapporteur of the Internal Market Committee
(IMCO) was published on 25 May 2005. The IMCO vote took
place on 22-23 November 2005 and the result of the
discussion is available on the IMCO
website.
The EP Plenary first reading is expected to take place in
February 2006.
Competitiveness Council – 28 November 2005
A new consolidated text and progress report were presented by
the UK Presidency at the
November Competitiveness Council. The Council
complimented the Presidency’s handling of discussions in the
Working Group and recognised the progress made. They agreed
to wait for the European Parliament’s opinion and the
Commission’s revised proposal before progressing further.
European
Council – 15-16 December 2005
In their
conclusions, the European Council also noted the
progress made in the Council Working Group and looked forward
to the Commission’s amended proposal.
Contacts:
To
contact the Department
of Trade and Industry
team handling
the Directive or if you wish to be informed when this site
is updated, please email:
servicesconsultation@dti.gsi.gov.uk
DTI Enquiry Unit
Tel:
020 7215 5000
Email: dti.enquiries@dti.gsi.gov.uk
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