Services in the internal market: Notification procedure for authorisation schemes and requirements related to services

These Briefings are prepared by the Ex-Ante Impact Assessment Unit of the European Parliament for the relevant EP Committee(s) examining the European Commission proposal. The Briefing analyses whether the principal criteria laid down in the Commission’s own Better Regulation Guidelines, as well as additional factors identified by the Parliament in its Impact Assessment Handbook, appear to be met by the IA. It does not attempt to deal with the substance of the proposal. It is drafted for informational and background purposes to assist the relevant parliamentary committee(s) and Members of the European Parliament more widely in their work.This note seeks to provide an initial analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the European Commission's Impact Assessment (IA) accompanying the January 2017 Proposal for a Directive on the enforcement of the Directive 2006/123/EC on services in the internal market (COM (2016)821), submitted on 10 January 2017 and referred to Parliament’s Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO).

Overall, the IA seems to motivate sufficiently the new legislation aiming to create a more effective notification procedure for services in the single market. In particular, the problems identified and the policy options considered appear to be clear and coherent. There are, however, some elements, which might merit further attention. It would have been useful to provide some quantification (or, alternatively, explain the lack thereof) regarding the economic impacts on businesses, competitiveness and SMEs, notwithstanding that the proposal is mainly addressed to Member States’ public authorities. Moreover, it is noticeable that the range of sources used to substantiate this IA is rather limited.

• Primary Source

EP: EPRS: Briefing: Implementation Appraisal: Ex-ante Impact Assessment http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/search.html?policyAreas=EXIMAS

ESO: Background information: Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the enforcement of the Directive 2006/123/EC on services in the internal market, laying down a notification procedure for authorisation schemes and requirements related to services, and amending Directive 2006/123/EC and Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 on administrative cooperation through the Internal Market Information System (COM (2016)821) http://www.europeansources.info/record/proposal-on-the-enforcement-of-directive-2006-123-ec-on-services-in-the-internal-market-laying-down-a-notification-procedure-for-authorisation-schemes-and-requirements-related-to-services-and-amendi/

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