Professional services are a key component of the EU internal market economy yet also significantly challenge the legal framework governing this internal market. Indeed, specific professional regulatory structures, which are often the result of a blend of government and self-regulation, hold clear potential for conflict with EU free movement and competition law rules. Hence this book looks at the manner in which both free movement and competition laws might apply to such self- and co-regulatory set-ups, and at the leeway given to quality considerations (apparently) conflicting with free movement or competition objectives. In addition, since court action will seldom suffice to genuinely integrate a market, the book also explores those instruments of EU secondary legislation that are likely to impact the most on the provision of professional services. However, the book goes beyond a mere inventory to ask how EU Internal Market policy could contribute to the optimal legal environment for professional services. A law and economics analysis is employed to investigate the need for specific professional rules, the preferred type of regulator (self-, co- or government regulation), and the level - national and/or European - at which regulation should be adopted. As becomes clear, the story of the market for professional services is one of market and government failure; the author is thus left to compare imperfect situations where market failures compete with rent-seeking efforts, the tendency towards over-centralisation and national protectionism. This book offers both an in-depth legal analysis of the EU framework as it applies to professional services as well as a more normative evaluation of this framework based on insights from law and economics scholarship. It will therefore be a valuable resource for all practitioners, policy-makers and academics dealing with professional services, as well as, more generally, with questions of quality and self-regulation.

Professional services are a key component of the EU internal market economy yet also significantly challenge the legal framework governing this internal market. Indeed, specific professional regulatory structures, which are often the result of a blend of government and self-regulation, hold clear potential for conflict with EU free movement and competition law rules. Hence this book looks at the manner in which both free movement and competition laws might apply to such self- and co-regulatory set-ups, and at the leeway given to quality considerations (apparently) conflicting with free movement or competition objectives. In addition, since court action will seldom suffice to genuinely integrate a market, the book also explores those instruments of EU secondary legislation that are likely to impact the most on the provision of professional services. However, the book goes beyond a mere inventory to ask how EU Internal Market policy could contribute to the optimal legal environment for professional services. A law and economics analysis is employed to investigate the need for specific professional rules, the preferred type of regulator (self-, co- or government regulation), and the level - national and/or European - at which regulation should be adopted. As becomes clear, the story of the market for professional services is one of market and government failure; the author is thus left to compare imperfect situations where market failures compete with rent-seeking efforts, the tendency towards over-centralisation and national protectionism. This book offers both an in-depth legal analysis of the EU framework as it applies to professional services as well as a more normative evaluation of this framework based on insights from law and economics scholarship. It will therefore be a valuable resource for all practitioners, policy-makers and academics dealing with professional services, as well as, more generally, with questions of quality and self-regulation.

Il libro costituisce un’introduzione al diritto del mercato interno europeo ed illustra e analizza l’evoluzione della disciplina del mercato interno e le sue caratteristiche e categorie giuridiche principali (Cap. 1 – Raffaele Torino), la libera circolazione delle merci (Cap. 2 – Federico Raffaele), la libera circolazione delle persone (Cap. 3 – Filippo Palmieri), la libera prestazione dei servizi e il diritto di stabilimento (Cap. 4 – Arianna Paoletti) e la libera circolazione dei capitali e dei pagamenti (Cap. 5 – Ilaria Ricci).

Exploring the importance of the EU Services Directive (Directive 2006/123), this book provides an expansive insight into the controversial legislation regulating the internal market in services, whilst examining the challenges of positive harmonisation. In addition, by analysing the functioning and judicial interpretation of the directive, it considers EU trade regulation values and the broader significance of EU regulation in global regulatory standard setting.

How does EU internal market law, in particular the rules on free movement and competition, apply to private regulation? What issues arise if a bar association were to regulate advertising; when a voluntary product standard impedes trade; or when a sporting body restricts the cross-border transfer of a football player? Covering the EU's free movement and competition rules from a general and sector-specific angle, focusing specifically on the legal profession, standard-setting, and sports, this book is the first systematic study of EU economic law in areas where private regulation is both important and legally controversial. Mislav Mataija discusses how the interpretation of both free movement and competition rule adapts to the rise of private regulation, and examines the diminishing relevance of the public/private distinction. As private regulators take on increasingly important tasks, the legal scrutiny over their measures becomes broader and moves towards what Mataija describes as 'regulatory autonomy.' This approach broadly disciplines, but also recognizes the legitimacy of private regulators; granting them an explicit margin of discretion and focusing on governance and process considerations rather than on their impact on trade and competition. The book also demonstrates how the application of EU internal market law fits in the context of strategic attempts by the EU institutions to negotiate substantive reforms in areas where private regulation is pervasive. Surveying recent case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the practice of the European Commission, Mataija demonstrates how EU internal market law is used as a control mechanism over private regulators.

Trade in services across the EU remains subject to a large number of restrictions, limiting choice for consumers and businesses, holding back growth, output and employment. The Commission has proposed a Directive which seeks to encourage greater cross-border trade in services by providing a legal framework that will eliminate obstacles to: the freedom for service providers to establish their business in any Member State; and the free movement of services between Member States. This report concentrates on the free movement of services between Member States. Under the Country of Origin Principle, a business which provides services in the Member State in which it is established is qualified to provide services on a temporary basis in any other Member State according to the regulations of its home Member State. Despite a substantial number of exceptions to the application of the Principle, the Directive has been criticised. The Committee, though, finds that the draft Services Directive does not pose a threat to the health and safety of employees or consumers, nor to environmental standards, nor to consumer protection. Services of general economic interest should not be excluded from the Directive. The draft Directive offers opportunities for small businesses in all 25 Member States of the European Union. The Services Directive is essential to remove unnecessary and unjustified obstacles to trade and to flexible markets thereby making the European Union more competitive in a global economy.

This book offers the first overview of services regulation in the EU, tracing its history from early, sector-specific interventions to the complex modern landscape of 'new governance' techniques. It sets the legal developments in their economic context and critiques the varied regulatory methods with which the EU has experimented.