Free movement of services in the european union

Abstract

In 2004, Frits Bolkenstein, former European Commissioner for the Internal Market, brought in the attention of the European Commission “The Services Directive in the Internal Market”. The purpose of this directive was to liberalize the services’ market in the EU, a major regulated field, whose goal was to develop the European economy into a more dynamic and competitive type of economy. “The Services Directive” aims the decreasing of the barriers and obstacles faced by the providers of services, especially in the case of Small And Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), by simplifying the administrative procedures, the management cooperation among member-states, improving the services’ quality and revising the national legislation. After more than 2 years of debates and amendments, the directive was adopted on December 12, 2006, by the European Parliament and the Council, as Directive 2006/123/EC, and ought to be implemented no later than December 28, 2009.Services Directive; Free Movement of Services; European Union; European Social Model; Bolkestein Directive;