Pacote «Serviços»: Uma economia de serviços que funciona para os europeus

The legislative and non-legislative measures in the Services package concern economic activities that account for 70% of the European economy. The package touches on important policy issues for the Committee of the Regions and has implications for local and regional authorities.
The package as a whole is chiefly about boosting the potential for economic growth and jobs by tackling obstacles to cross-border trade and investment in services. EU integration in services remains low in comparison with that in the goods sector and the Commission estimates that addressing the barriers to cross-border trade and investment in services under the framework already provided by the Services Directive could add 1.7% to the GDP of the EU. Greater competition in services should result in more choice and better prices for customers as well as increased innovation. EU services markets would benefit from faster productivity growth and a more efficient allocation of resources. SMEs in particular would benefit from these opportunities as services providers are mostly SMEs, and SMEs are a very important component of regional economies.
Better functioning services markets should also positively affect the competitiveness of industry as the EU manufacturing sector represents an important buyer and final user of services. The Commission says that services account for 40% in the value of a final manufacturing product in the EU. A competitive manufacturing sector in Europe is therefore conditional on well-functioning services markets. This also has important implications for regional economies.
Administrative simplification and better regulation, especially for SMEs, is another policy priority for the CoR that the package addresses. The proposal for a services e-card is primarily about tackling the administrative complexities and excessive costs which service providers face when going cross-border, thereby allowing them to better exploit business opportunities in other Member States. The Commission says the initiative is specifically targeted at SMEs since they are most impacted by administrative complexity when expanding abroad.
Implementation of important aspects of the package would also impact on LRA. For example, the proposal concerning the proportionality assessment of national rules on professional services would allow Member States to decide when and at what level (central or regional) to carry out the proportionality test, which means that in principle this could be a matter for regional governments in some Member States. In relation to the services e-card, the Commission says that it would be implemented using the existing Internal Market Information System (IMI), in which LRA are included.
The proposal for improved notification of draft national laws on services tackles significant weaknesses of the existing mechanism and should contribute substantially to increasing the engagement of stakeholders and improving transparency as well as to improved effectiveness as it would empower the Commission to require Member States to bring national rules into line with the Services Directive. LRA would have a role in implementing the procedure through their involvement in the existing Internal Market Information System (IMI).
The guidance for national reforms of regulated professions aims to encourage Member States to adapt their existing regulatory frameworks in line with public policy objectives and is designed to complement the European Semester evaluations, with which LRA should be more closely associated.