Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-04-05-Speech-4-243"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20010405.14.4-243"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, first may I say that I am speaking on behalf of my colleague, Lord Inglewood, who is an expert on this topic and who has had to return to London at short notice. As a liberal professional myself, in this case a doctor, rather than a lawyer, I have to say that my British experience of fixed professional fees – fixed in this case by government – such as cremation fees and attendances at coroners' courts, is that they are artificially low and have tended to benefit the state rather than the professional concerned.
Politically I have recently been involved with asking the Commission to examine the restrictions applied by British health insurers in only paying the medical fees for treatments provided within the UK and refusing such benefits to British residents who wish to avail themselves of treatment in, for example, France. Last year I lobbied on behalf of a British lawyer wanting to register in France as a
as non-French
are currently prohibited by French law, and this is an activity governed in many Member States by fixed fees. Currently I am my group's shadow rapporteur on EMAC on a proposed directive for a single market and free movement for insurance mediators, whose commissions are often fixed. Therefore these concepts apply to a number of different professionals other than lawyers, as I have already mentioned.
The single market is one of the major achievements of the European Community and for that market to be complete it must include services as well as goods. I entirely agree with Commissioner Bolkestein that the services sector in Europe offers huge potential growth for competition and employment which must be to the benefit of all of Europe's citizens. The Commission's initiative in this area is therefore one that I strongly support and in accordance with the so-called single market principles, it should be possible to introduce in one Member State business models providing services pioneered successfully in another, and of course they should be subject to examination under the Treaty rules on competition.
I am conscious of the need for proper consumer protection across a single market, but I also suspect that many practices which have grown up over the years, through tradition and usage, may have outlived some of their original usefulness. It is very important, therefore, that a thorough inquiry be conducted which will lead to a comprehensive debate so that special privileges and practices and exemptions which may be attached to the exercise of the liberal professions – and not just the lawyers – are properly scrutinised. It is necessary to ensure that they will provide a real benefit to the citizen, and are not merely privileges supporting the vested interests of all the professions concerned."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs |
substitute; Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
"notaire"1
"notaires"1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples