Activities of Malcolm HARBOUR related to 2011/2085(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the Mutual Evaluation Process of the Services Directive PDF (195 KB) DOC (118 KB)
Amendments (13)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 a (new)
Citation 7 a (new)
– having regard to Directive 2005/36/EC1 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 September 2005 on the recognition of professional qualifications,
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Considers that, while the timing of the mutual evaluation process was challenging, it helped to maintain momentum after the implementation of the Directive and was a useful platform for Member States to exchange recent implementation practice;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Looks forward to the announced economic assessment of the implementation of the Services Directive; calls on the Commission to ensure maximum transparency on the criteria and methodology chosen to carry out this assessment and to closely associate the European Parliament with these choices; invites the Commission to present to the Parliament its findings;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Welcomes the internal market performance check initiative and hopes that this exercise will significantly improve the practical understanding of how different pieces of EU legislation are applied and interact on the ground; Considers that the performance check exercise should be performed by taking into account the perspective of the Single Market users; calls on the Commission to involve the European Parliament closely in the performance check initiative by jointly developing the methodology and a detailed set of outcome focussed objectives;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Regrets that the Commission has not provided criteria for choosing specific types of requirements for targeted actions; calls on the Commission to clarify the reasons why the other types of requirements mentioned in Article 15 of the Services Directive, such as the minimum number of employees, fixed minimum or maximum tariffs, were considered less important than those singled out in its Communication;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Calls on the Commission to focus its targeted actionscollect and present data quantifying the impact onf the various remaining requirements which, if removed, would bring maximumimprove the functioning of the Single Market for services; Calls on the Commission to prioritise its targeted actions on removing those requirements which would bring the highest level of added value to the functioning of the sSingle mMarket for services; Askscalls on the Commission to target its work towards, furthermore, to focus its action on the sectors and professions with a high growth potential for the cross - border provision of services;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Considers that many national barriers still remain in place, particularly slowing growth in professional business to business services; calls on the Member States to ensure that new and remaining requirements are non-discriminatory, necessary and proportionate; calls on the Commission to engage more actively with Member States to closely monitor and ensure due notification of the relevant national legislative measures relating to implementation of Article 15 of the Services Directive;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Urges the Commission to work furand the Member States to work more closely together to ensure the proper application in Member States of the freedom to provide services clause in Article 16 of the Services Directive; calls on the Commission to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the state of play on the provision of cross-border services in the EU including the reasons explaining the moderate growth rate in this sector, and a detailed overview of the effectiveness of Member State implementation of the provisions of Article 16 of the Services Directive;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Urges the Members States to ensure complete and proper implementation of the provisions of the Services Directive which were not included in the mutual evaluation process, such as the Points of Single Contact and calls on the Commission to ensure strict enforcement of the relevant provisions;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Supports the extension of the mutual evaluation process to other Single Market initiatives; calls on the Commission, however, to clearly define the aims and deliverables of mutual evaluation before proposing mutual evaluation on other Directives to ensure the process does not impose unnecessary burdens on the evaluating authorities;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Believes that ‘cluster discussions’ should remain the coreentral element of the mutual evaluation process; considers that a well targeted but limited number of expert participants in cluster discussions creates the conditions for efficiency and delivering outcomes; considers that mutual evaluation should be developed further as a procedure for exchanging best practices and ‘policy-learning’ development experiences between Member States and that the Commission’s role could be clarified in terms of providing guidance and steering the process, particularly during these cluster discussions;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Asks the Commission to increase transparency by informing the European Parliament on the contents and progress of discussions between Member States and by presenting regular reports throughout the different stages of mutual evaluation to keep all stakeholders updated; calls on the Commission to make the main conclusions of the cluster and plenary meetings public;