Services Liberalisation in the Internal Market

Liberalisation of cross-border service provision developed into one of the most controversial European integration issues. In the public debate – that for the first time provided a glimpse of a European public in nuce – in particular the first draft of the regulation was subject to severe criticism, being often called the "Frankenstein directive", the transposition of which inevitably would lead to a breakdown of the so called "European Social Model", a term that was also coined during the debate. On the other hand, the defenders of the concept promised the creation of jobs without number, if the Directive were realised.The EU Services Directive of December 2006 marks a preliminary endpoint in the debate. But it differs considerably from the original draft, most importantly by giving up the embattled Country of Origin Principle.With the volume at hand, renowned scientists analyse the EU’s efforts so far to liberalise the services sector from a legal, economic, and business administration perspective.

Harald Badinger, Economist, Assistant Professor at the Europainstitut of Wirtschaftsuniversität, Vienna.Fritz Breuss, Economist, Jean Monnet-Professor for the economy of European integration at the Europainstitut of Wirtschaftsuniversität,Vienna, and collaborator of the Austrian Institute of Economic Research – WiFo. Since 2002 he is President of ECSA Austria.Gerhard Fink, Economist, professor for Business Administration with reference to European Integration at Europainstitut of Wirtschaftsuniversität, Vienna. Since its foundation in 1996, he serves as the treasurer of ECSA Austria.Stefan Griller, Lawyer, Jean Monnet-Professor for Public Law with special regard to European Law at the Europainstitut of Wirtschaftsuniversität, Vienna. He was the founding President of ECSA Austria in 1996 and since 2002 serves as the organization’s Secretary General.Peter Haiss, Economist, works in a major Austrian bank and is lecturer at the Europainstitut of Wirtschaftsuniversität, Vienna.Armin Hatje, Lawyer, Professor for European Community Law at the University of Hamburg, Germany.Niklas Maydell, Lawyer, at the time of writing his article worked as a Research Assistant at the Europainstitut of Wirtschaftsuniversität, Vienna.Andreas Pichler, Economist, at the time of writing his article worked as a Research Assistant at the Europainstitut of Wirtschaftsuniversität, Vienna.Philip Schuster, Economist, worked in the afore-mentioned Wirtschaftsuniversität research-project on services liberalisation as a student researcher. At present, he is economist at the Viennabased Institute for Advanced Studies.Richard Sellner, Economist, worked in the afore-mentioned Wirtschaftsuniversität research-project on services liberalisation as a student researcher. At present, he is economist at the Viennabased Institute for Advanced Studies.Katharina Steiner, Economist, Research Assistant at the Europainstitut of Wirtschaftsuniversität, Vienna.