Freedom to provide services
The freedom to provide services is one of the four fundamental freedoms of the European internal market, alongside the free movement of people , the free movement of goods and the free movement of capital . Like these, it aims to remove barriers to trade within the Union. Since it regulates temporary activity in a Member State, it can also be counted among the free movement of persons.
requirements
The freedom to provide services enables providers of industrial, commercial, craft and freelance activities free access to the service markets of all member states of the European Union . It is regulated in Art. 56 to Art. 62 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
Nationals of a Member State can rely on the freedom to provide services if
- in a Member State settled (and there may not engage in the service),
- the service has a cross-border reference, such a reference is assumed if,
- the service is offered in another member state (active freedom to provide services) e.g. craftsmen from one member state,
- the recipient of the service comes from another Member State (passive freedom to provide services) B. with tourists,
- only the service crosses the border (corresponding service) z. B. Service over the Internet.
- who provide a service and do not deliver goods ( non-physicality ; difference to the free movement of goods ),
- are self- employed (in contrast to the free movement of workers ) and
- usually demand a fee .
If the provider makes use of the freedom to provide services, he leaves his establishment in the original Member State and only moves to the other Member State temporarily . He does not set up his own branch there and is not integrated into the local economy (difference to freedom of establishment ).
In principle, without prejudice to the freedom to provide services, the provider must take into account the prerequisites that the Member State to which he is traveling prescribes for his own nationals to perform the service, unless the services are provided under Article 59 TFEU by EU directives and EU Regulations are liberalized.
Liberalization through EU directives
As in the areas of the other fundamental freedoms, provisions of EU secondary law were passed to implement the freedom to provide services , in particular to remove non-tariff trade barriers .
The most important legal act for liberalization is, in particular, the long controversial European Services Directive (2006/123 / EC). The subject of the dispute was in particular the principle that the legal provisions of their country of origin apply to the service providers (so-called country of origin principle ). The Bolkestein draft submitted by the Commission in 2004 (named after Commissioner Frits Bolkestein ) was toned down as part of the legislative process by the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament . The directive had to be transposed into national law by December 28, 2009.
If a company posts employees to another EU member state to provide services, Directive 96/71 / EC on the posting of workers , which is based on the country of destination principle , applies to the applicability of certain labor law provisions .
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Directive 96/71 / EC (PDF)
