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The Council agreed on general approaches on two proposals of the "Services Package" to make the internal market more effective:
- a draft directive laying down rules on notification for authorisation requirements in the services sector, and
- a draft directive aimed at carrying out a proportionality test before adoption of new regulation of professions.
A Council general approach allows starting negotiations with the European Parliament.
“Businesses and professionals are still confronted with disproportionate regulation to provide services across borders. The Services Package is an essential tool to facilitate the movement of people and services. Companies, professionals and consumers will benefit greatly from better access to different professional activities and services”, said Chris Cardona, Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business of Malta.
The draft directive seeks to ensure that new national measures approved in member states fulfil the necessary conditions to facilitate the competitiveness and integration of the single market in the services sector.
More specifically, it aims at improving the current notification procedure of the Services Directive (2006/123/EC). This procedure provides that member states must notify to the Commission new or changed authorisation schemes or requirements falling under the scope of the Services Directive in order to guarantee its correct implementation.
The Council's text takes into account the need to enhance the existing notification procedure and the need to respect the principles of proportionality and of subsidiarity, in particular the prerogatives of national parliaments and administrative authorities.
The objective of the Services Directive is to remove barriers to the establishment of service providers and the temporary provision of cross-border services.
Professions: tests before adoption of new national rulesThe draft directive seeks to improve transparency on the way certain professions are regulated in the member states.
More specifically, it aims at ensuring that national measures are proportionate and do not unduly restrict access to professions or create unjustified burdens in the internal market.
When regulating professions, member states will have to make an assessment as to whether the new or amended rules are justified so as to appreciate their effect on stakeholders and businesses. The future directive will therefore harmonise the way in which these proportionality tests are carried out and the criteria that have to be applied, in accordance with the European Court of Justice rulings.
The obligation to carry out a proportionality test before introducing new regulation of professions will supplement provisions of the Professional Qualifications Directive (2013/55/EU).
The Services PackageThe "Services Package", released on 10 January 2017, contains the following legislative proposals:
It also includes guidance on reform recommendations for regulation in professional services.
Promoting the competitiveness of services markets is essential for the creation of jobs and growth in the EU, with the services sector accounting for around 70% of the EU's GDP.
On 29 May 2017, the Council adopted a decision authorising the signing of an agreement with the United States on insurance and reinsurance.
The agreement will provide legal certainty for EU and US insurers and reinsurers in the application of regulatory frameworks. It will enable improved protection for policyholders and other consumers through cooperation between supervisors and the exchange of information.
The text was negotiated by the Commission on the basis of a mandate approved by the Council in April 2015. It includes provisions on reinsurance, group supervision and the exchange of information. A joint committee will oversee its implementation.
The Council's decision provides for provisional application of some of the agreement's provisions, pending the completion of the procedures necessary for its conclusion. The Council also requested the consent of the European Parliament for conclusion of the agreement.
The decision was adopted at a meeting of the Competitiveness Council, without discussion.
The Council agreed on a general approach to reform the system of type-approval and market surveillance for motor vehicles.
This major reform will modernise the current system, adapt it to new technologies available on the market and improve control tests on car emissions data.
"Public health, air quality and innovation are at the core of this agreement. The only way to restore and increase trust in the European automobile industry is to help to develop clean and safety technologies. Reliable control tests for cars will be established so that emission irregularities that happened in the past cannot reappear in the future”, said Chris Cardona, Chair of the Council and Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business of Malta.
The aim of the reform is to achieve a high level of safety and environmental performance of motor vehicles and to address the main shortcomings identified in the existing type-approval system.
The Council general approach will have to be negotiated with the European Parliament before becoming law. The Parliament voted its position on 4 April.
Important changes will be introduced in three areas by strengthening:
All member states agreed to improve the harmonised implementation of the rules across the EU so as to reduce the possible differences in interpretation and application by national type-approval authorities and technical services. They also agreed that more effective market surveillance rules should apply to better detect non-compliance at an early stage.
A minimum number of cars to be checkedThe new market surveillance obligations agreed by the Council would require every country to conduct a minimum number of checks on cars each year. This minimum number of checks will be 1 in every 50,000 new vehicles registered in that country the previous year.
The checks will include verification of emissions under real driving conditions.
The general approach foresees an obligation for member states to finance market surveillance activities. The fees for type-approval activities would be levied on manufacturers who have applied for type-approval.
Those countries with fewer resources to carry out the required tests will be able to ask other countries to carry out the tests on their behalf.
More robust oversight to detect failuresThe Commission will be empowered to carry out tests and inspections of vehicles to verify compliance and react to irregularities immediately. This will increase the independence and quality of the EU type-approval system.
The Commission could also impose fines for infringements on manufacturers and importers of up to €30 000 per non-compliant vehicle.
An audit system based on peer reviews will be established. The type-approval authorities would be peer-reviewed by two type-approval authorities of other member states at least once every five years. The Commission will be able to participate in peer evaluation teams and should draw up a summary of the outcomes of peer evaluations and make them public.
Type-approval authorities however would not be subject to peer evaluation when they designate all their technical services on the basis of accreditation of internationally recognised standards.
Furthermore, an advisory Forum for exchange of information on enforcement measures would be established with the purpose to harmonise different interpretations and practises among the member states. This Forum should also examine the outcomes of peer evaluations.
In addition, the national authorities will have to submit each year to the Forum a comprehensive overview of their planned market surveillance checks.
As far as technical services are concerned, the Council text proposes the involvement of the national accreditation bodies in the assessment of the technical services and the establishment of joint assessment teams.
The position of technical services vis-à-vis manufacturers will be strengthened, and will include the right and duty to carry out unannounced factory inspections and to conduct physical or laboratory tests.
The technical services will carry out the tests for type-approval under the responsibility of type-approval authorities. The proper functioning of technical services is crucial for ensuring a high level of safety and environmental protection and so maintain consumer confidence in the system.
BackgroundThe draft regulation to modernise the type-approval system of motor vehicles was presented by the Commission on 27 January 2016. It will replace the EU's current legal framework which is set out in directive 2007/46/EC.
It preserves the general purpose of directive 2007/46/EC to facilitate the free movement of motor vehicles in the internal market and apply the principle of mutual recognition by laying down harmonised type-approval requirements.
A fundamental overhaul of the existing system, which was designed ten years ago, was already foreseen in the EU's work programme.
However, irregularities discovered on the use of illegal defeat devices by certain car manufacturers have made public opinion, authorities and economic operators aware of the need to implement robust provisions on type-approval, as well as to improve testing methods with respect to pollutant emissions from vehicles, to prevent similar cases in the future.
The EU has taken a further step to prevent corporate tax avoidance, adopting rules to close down 'hybrid mismatches' with the tax systems of third countries.
On 29 May 2017, the Council adopted a directive to prevent corporate groups from exploiting the disparities between two or more tax jurisdictions to reduce their overall tax liability.
“Our aim here is to tackle one of the main practices that multinational companies have devised to reduce their tax bills”, said Edward Scicluna, minister for finance of Malta, which currently holds the Council presidency. “The directive adds to the rules we adopted last year to tackle the most common forms of tax avoidance. It will also ensure implementation of the OECD's recommendations.”
The directive was adopted at a meeting of the Competitiveness Council, without discussion. This follows an agreement at a meeting on 21 February 2017. The European Parliament gave its opinion on 27 April 2017.
Member states will have until 1 January 2020 to transpose the directive into national laws and regulations (1 January 2022 for one specific provision).