Services Directive

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The objective of the Services Directive is to achieve a genuine Internal Market in services by removing legal and administrative barriers to the development of service activities between Member States.

The Directive will guarantee service providers more legal certainty if they want to exercise two fundamental freedoms (freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services) enshrined in the EC Treaty.

This will make it easier for businesses to provide and use cross-border services in the EU, thus increasing cross-border competition in service markets, bringing down prices and improving quality and choice for consumers.

The Directive will also strengthen the rights of users of services, for instance by enshrining the right of non-discrimination.

EU Member states are required to implement the Directive by 28 December 2009. In the UK the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) leads on implementation of the directive.

Further details on the implementation process, including interim results of the large-scale exercise to screen national legislation in the UK for compliance, can be found on BERR's Services Directive Implementation Updates webpage.

Thinking of getting a service in Europe?

In that case think European Consumer Centre for Services (ECCS), your one stop shop to find out everything you need to know before getting the service.

The ECCS is a requirement of the European Services Directive and is hosted by the Trading Standards Institute and funded by the Department for Innovations and Skills.

The ECCS is here to ensure you know what you need to know before you get a service from another European Country. Have a look at their website for further information – www.ukecc-services.net. You can also contact the ECCS by phone if you have a specific enquire about a service in another European country – 08456 08 94 94.

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The UK European Consumer Centre has available a free newsletter, “UK ECC – your update”. The aim of the newsletter is to provide you, the consumer, with a flavour of what the UK ECC does, provide examples of cases we have been working on and, more importantly, provide you with the best advice on cross-border shopping. Please use the link below to subscribe to our newsletter.