Vrij verkeer van diensten: Commissie neemt maatregelen tegen Bulgarije, Luxemburg, en Oostenrijk (en)

The European Commission has taken action to put an end to certain obstacles to the free movement of services in Bulgaria, Luxembourg and Austria. The Commission will send a formal request to Bulgaria concerning national rules that restrict the free circulation of EU lawyers and EU law firms in Bulgaria. This formal request takes the form of a 'reasoned opinion', the second stage of the infringement procedure laid down in Article 226 of the EC Treaty. If there is no satisfactory reply within two months, the Commission may refer the matter to the European Court of Justice. The Commission will also refer Luxembourg to the European Court of Justice over its failure to reimburse the cost of medical tests carried out in another Member State. Finally, the Commission will send a letter of formal notice under Article 228 of the EC Treaty requesting compliance with a previous Court judgement on legislation obliging doctors to open an account at a specific bank.

Bulgaria - restrictions on the free movement of Community lawyers and law firms

The Commission considers that some provisions of Bulgarian legislation relating to lawyers constitute a violation of the freedom of establishment of lawyers and law firms in Bulgaria as enshrined in Article 43 EC and also infringe Directive 98/5/EC, which aims to facilitate practice of the profession of lawyer on a permanent basis in a Member State other than that in which the qualification was obtained. The Commission considers that the requirement of Bulgarian nationality for a person to obtain the qualification of Bulgarian lawyer is not justified, nor is the fact that Community lawyers do not benefit from the same rights as Bulgarian lawyers for the exercise of their activity. Furthermore, the Commission believes that the current inability of Community law firms to establish a branch in Bulgaria or use their own company name there breaches Article 43 EC.

Luxembourg - reimbursement of the costs of biomedical tests carried out in other Member States

The European Commission has decided to take Luxembourg to the Court of Justice over cases of refusal to reimburse the costs of biomedical tests carried out in other Member States.

The Court of Justice has handed down judgments on the reimbursement of medical expenses incurred in another Member State on several occasions. The Court has recognised patients' rights under Article 49 of the EC Treaty which, according to the Commission, also apply to the reimbursement of the costs of biomedical tests The Commission considers that the Luxembourg legislation which does not allow the costs of these medical services to be reimbursed breaches Article 49 of the EC Treaty.

Austria - requirement to open a bank account with an Austrian bank

In 2007, the Commission took Austria to the Court of Justice over the fact that any medical doctor wishing to become established in the Province of Upper Austria was required to open a bank account with a specific Austrian bank. The Commission considered that this requirement imposed a restriction both on banks established in other Member States and on medical doctors since they were not free to choose their own bank.

The Court of Justice delivered its judgment on 25 June 2009 (Case C-536/08). It ruled that Austria had failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 49 of the EC Treaty by requiring medical doctors establishing themselves in Upper Austria to open a bank account with the Landesbank in Linz into which fees for services in kind received from health insurances companies in the course of their professional activity were required to be paid. In reply to a letter from the Commission asking for information about the measures which the Austrian authorities intended to take to give effect to the Court's judgment, the Austrian Government informed the Commission that practical measures were being adopted to enable private medical practitioners to have recourse to a bank of their choosing. However, the Austrian authorities also pointed out that the regulations could not be amended until December 2009 at the next meeting of the Chamber of Physicians of Upper Austria. The Commission cannot, therefore, do other than find that the breach of Community law persists, since the Austrian authorities have failed to take all the measures needed to comply with the Court's judgment. The Commission has therefore decided to send Austria a letter of formal notice as provided for in Article 228 of the EC Treaty.

Other information:

Free movement of services and freedom of establishment:

http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/services/principles_en.htm

Latest information on infringement proceedings concerning all Member States:

http://ec.europa.eu/community_law/index_en.htm