madam president it is a privilege to be able to make my first intervention in the chamber since being elected as chairman of the committee on the internal market and consumer protection and to present this question on behalf of all the political groups on the committee as well as the coordinators
i am very pleased that many new members of the committee are here tonight to support me and to contribute to the debate
i do not think that this house needs any reminding about the importance of the services directive
in unleashing the power of the single market in a sector that comprises probably seventy of the european economy the jobs that it will create and the dynamic effect of that are sorely needed at the moment in the stagnant conditions that we face
this is a very wide-ranging directive
it has many new features
it is complicated in many areas
it has needed a lot of attention
the transposition of this in a consistent and full way is absolutely vital for its effective operation
at the very core of this directive is the fact that member states will remove barriers to business and in particular measures in their own national legislation that discriminate against service companies who want to do business
believe me there are literally hundreds of legislative proposals or pieces of legislation in different countries that have had to be amended as a result of this proposal
unless all colleagues move together to do this and all countries move together to do this that discrimination is going to remain
this has to be done consistently
otherwise those barriers will remain
that is why i want first of all to pay tribute particularly to the commission for the leading role it has played in managing and coordinating the whole process among member states of carrying out and transposing this legislation
i also want to thank the council and indeed successive councils since this proposal was agreed back in two thousand and six who have led the process which we have actually seen in summits calling for the consistent transposition of this directive
i want to say particularly to cecilia malmström the minister here tonight how impressed the committee was with the work that sweden was doing when we went to visit sweden on a mission back in september
i think that they have clearly set an example to many other people and in particular in the meticulous way in which they are ensuring that public authorities at all levels in sweden understand their obligations under european law in order to be able to authorise service companies coming from other places within the european union
our question tonight focuses in particular on what we regard as the most important elements to be put in place as soon as possible
member states have been required to go through the screening process of their legislation to look as i say for those discriminatory elements
but the transposition on twenty-eight december is just the start of the process of removing obstacles because every country is now going to come up with a list of proposals which discriminate against other countries and which they believe they can justify in the public interest
that mutual evaluation process which is an entirely new one requires other member state authorities to look at each other at each other's discriminatory proposals
that is going to be a vital part that starts and we are following that with great interest
we would like to hear tonight how the commission is proposing to approach that process
we would like to know from the council what support they are giving to that
we would also like an assurance that this is not going to be a process done behind closed doors because consumers and businesses and other interest groups will want to know how that process is being carried out
we want to see that list
we want to see the list of regulations and internal statutes that member states want to retain
second is information and access to procedures through electronic technology
setting up the points of single contact for business is a ground-breaking proposal again in any european directive
member states are required to make that information and access to the procedures necessary for businesses to complete to allow them to trade through those systems
it is vital that we have full and complete systems set up
so that is what our question is here tonight
we look forward to mrs ferrero-waldner perhaps in a field that is not so familiar to her giving us some comprehensive answers
we know you will give our best wishes to charlie mccreevy from everybody
i think it is important to understand however the perspective of my committee
for us this is also the start of a process over the next five years of monitoring and sustaining political interest and pressure on all the member states to deliver this directive
i have to say to cecilia malmström that it was disappointing to say the least to see in the report that a competitiveness council discussed back in september a note from the commission that it would appear in some member states the political commitment to full and timely implementation has unfortunately not been translated into appropriate action
that is not good enough
we want the benefits and we want them now
