Czech Business Today

The growth potential of cross-border provision of services in the EU is huge, but there are significant obstacles that prevent it. Therefore, the European Commission wants to create a new instrument – the so-called services passport that should help services providers go cross-border and reduce unnecessary burden.

The services passport was discussed by representatives of EU institutions, permanent representations and business organizations on 19th April in Brussels. According to Jürgen Tiedje, Head of the Service Policy for Consumers Unit at DG GROW of the European Commission, service providers that want to go cross- border still face significant barriers, including complex and costly administrative procedures. ́The services passport should be a single electronic procedure involving the service provider and the authorities of the home and host member states. The idea is that the service provider would have a single interlocutor in the home country, who in turn communicates with the host country. Documents should be submitted only once ́, he explained. Business representatives agreed that the services passport must lead to regulatory simplification and streamlining. They reminded that bilateral services passports are already in place and some of them make things even more complicated. Jan Havlík, Director of European Affairs and Internal Market Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic said that we need instruments like services passport because the internal market is far from being perfect.

‘There are several basic principles that the passport should respect: it should lead to true simplification, be voluntary, fully electronic, not increasing administrative burden and should be applicable both for the establishment and cross-border provision of services ́, stressed Havlík. On May 2, the Commission launched a public consultation on this topic.