It’s Springtime, and many of us think of Paris and Rome (or Brussels), and getting away from lawyering. The best pyj can do is tell you about a new Report on developments in the European Union relating to competition for professional services. Toward a Borderless Market for Professional Services (April 26, 2004) is written by trade expert Bernard Ascher for the American Antitrust Institute. This brief but meaty summary of activity in the EU also ponders the implications for American professionals.
- With Pennsylvania‘s new Rule 5.5 (described here and there) going into effect this week, and permitting out-of-state and foreign lawyers to provide temporary legal services, the aai Report seems particularly timely.
In Borderless, Ascher explains:
The European Union is moving on two fronts to improve conditions of competition for professional services and other services supplied within its market. On one front, through its Competition Directorate General (DG), the EU is pressing Member States to remove restrictions, such as price-fixing arrangements and advertising curbs, that prevent competition in professional services; on the other front, through its Internal Market DG, the EU is proposing a Directive to cut administrative burdens and excessive red tape that prevent EU businesses and professional service providers from offering their services across borders or from opening premises in other Member States.
He reports that “Following a review process initiated by the Competition DG . . . the Commission concluded that the existence of regulatory restrictions ‘is preventing the delivery of benefits to the economy and to consumers in particular.’ Thus, on February 9, 2004, the Commission announced that it is calling for Member States to abolish such restrictions unless they are ‘clearly justified by public interest’.” The study covered six professions, lawyers, notaries, accountants, architects, engineers, and pharmacists.
In Lisbon in 2000, the European Council set the ambitious goal of becoming the “most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010.” As part of that effort, in March 2003, DG Competition launched a stocktaking exercise for professional services, to consider the justification for and effects of restrictive rules and regulations in the professions [such as fee scales, advertising restrictions, exclusive rights and rules prohibiting inter-professional co-operation].
- The EU Competition Policy and Liberal Professions webpage has details on the Conference held in Brussels 28 October 2003 and the Study . It also contains many links to key speeches and policy documents.
Ascher also notes that “Europeans have long recognized the advantages of the U.S. market with free movement of goods and services and a uniform currency. The EU has been working toward that goal for Europe.”
“By the same token, development of a more unified market for professional services in the EU could set an example for countries with multiple regulatory jurisdictions, such as the United States, Australia and Canada, to review and assess their own regulations and procedures in a systematic way, on a national level.”
There’s much more in this pithy report, including a list of competitive restrictions in various professions. Those affecting the legal profession include:
recommended prices for lawyers in Austria, Portugal, and Spain;
effective advertising prohibition for lawyers in Greece, Portugal, and Ireland (barristers);
bans on opening branch offices for lawyers in Luxembourg, Greece, Belgium, and Germany; and
eight Member States where lawyers are not permitted to form corporations
Get better, Glenn. You know Lileks is right:
So, listen to egoEsq: Get all better. Stop posting until your doctor and InstaSpouse give you a full bill of health. It won’t happen instantly, but think how happy the webiverse will be upon your vibrant return!