PART III: THE POLICIES AND FUNCTIONING OF THE UNION
TITLE III - INTERNAL POLICIES AND ACTION
CHAPTER I - INTERNAL MARKET
SECTION 2 - FREE MOVEMENT OF PERSONS AND SERVICES
Subsection 1 - Workers
ARTICLE III-133
1. Workers shall have the right to move freely within the Union.
2. Any discrimination based on nationality between workers of the Member States as regards employment, remuneration and other conditions of work and employment shall be prohibited.
3. Workers shall have the right, subject to limitations justified on grounds
of public policy, public security or public health:
(a) to accept offers of employment actually made;
(b) to move freely within the territory of Member States for this purpose;
(c) to stay in a Member State for the purpose of employment in accordance with
the provisions governing the employment of nationals of that State laid down
by law, regulation or administrative action;
(d) to remain in the territory of a Member State after having been employed
in that State, subject to conditions which shall be embodied in European regulations
adopted by the Commission.
4. This Article shall not apply to employment in the public service.
ARTICLE III-134
European laws or framework laws shall establish the measures needed to bring about freedom of movement for workers, as defined in Article III-133. They shall be adopted after consultation of the Economic and Social Committee.
Such European laws or framework laws shall aim, in particular, to:
(a) ensure close cooperation between national employment services;
(b) abolish those administrative procedures and practices and those qualifying
periods in respect of eligibility for available employment, whether resulting
from national legislation or from agreements previously concluded between Member
States, the maintenance of which would form an obstacle to liberalisation of
the movement of workers;
(c) abolish all such qualifying periods and other restrictions provided for
either under national legislation or under agreements previously concluded between
Member States as impose on workers of other Member States conditions regarding
the free choice of employment other than those imposed on workers of the State
concerned;
(d) set up appropriate machinery to bring offers of employment into touch with
applications for employment and to facilitate the achievement of a balance between
supply and demand in the employment market in such a way as to avoid serious
threats to the standard of living and level of employment in the various regions
and industries.
ARTICLE III-135
Member States shall, within the framework of a joint programme, encourage the exchange of young workers.
ARTICLE III-136
1. In the field of social security, European laws or framework laws shall establish such measures as are necessary to bring about freedom of movement for workers by making arrangements to secure for employed and self-employed migrant workers and their dependants:
(a) aggregation, for the purpose of acquiring and retaining the right to benefit
and of calculating the amount of benefit, of all periods taken into account
under the laws of the different countries;
(b) payment of benefits to persons resident in the territories of Member States.
2. Where a member of the Council considers that a draft European law or framework
law referred to in paragraph 1 would affect fundamental aspects of its social
security system, including its scope, cost or financial structure, or would
affect the financial balance of that system, it may request that the matter
be referred to the European Council. In that case, the procedure referred to
in Article III-396 shall be suspended. After discussion, the European Council
shall, within four months of this suspension, either:
(a) refer the draft back to the Council, which shall terminate the suspension
of the procedure referred to in Article III-396, or
(b) request the Commission to submit a new proposal; in that case, the act originally
proposed shall be deemed not to have been adopted.
Subsection 2 - Freedom of establishment
ARTICLE III-137
Within the framework of this Subsection, restrictions on the freedom of establishment of nationals of a Member State in the territory of another Member State shall be prohibited. Such prohibition shall also apply to restrictions on the setting-up of agencies, branches or subsidiaries by nationals of any Member State established in the territory of any Member State.
Nationals of a Member State shall have the right, in the territory of another
Member State, to take up and pursue activities as self-employed persons and
to set up and manage undertakings, in particular companies or firms within the
meaning of the second paragraph of Article III-142, under the conditions laid
down for its own nationals by the law of the Member State where such establishment
is effected, subject to Section 4 relating to capital and payments.
ARTICLE III-138
1. European framework laws shall establish measures to attain freedom of establishment as regards a particular activity. They shall be adopted after consultation of the Economic and Social Committee.
2. The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission shall carry out the
duties devolving upon them under paragraph 1, in particular:
(a) by according, as a general rule, priority treatment to activities where freedom of establishment makes a particularly valuable contribution to the development of production and trade;
(b) by ensuring close cooperation between the competent authorities in the Member
States in order to ascertain the particular situation within the Union of the
various activities concerned;
(c) by abolishing those administrative procedures and practices, whether resulting
from national legislation or from agreements previously concluded between Member
States, the maintenance of which would form an obstacle to freedom of establishment;
(d) by ensuring that workers from one Member State employed in the territory
of another Member State may remain in that territory for the purpose of taking
up activities therein as self-employed persons, where they satisfy the conditions
which they would be required to satisfy if they were entering that State at
the time when they intended to take up such activities;
(e) by enabling a national of one Member State to acquire and use land and buildings
situated in the territory of another Member State, insofar as this does not
conflict with the principles laid down in Article III-227(2);
(f) by effecting the progressive abolition of restrictions on freedom of establishment
in every branch of activity under consideration, both as regards the conditions
for setting up agencies, branches or subsidiaries in the territory of a Member
State and as regards the conditions governing the entry of personnel belonging
to the main establishment into managerial or supervisory posts in such agencies,
branches or subsidiaries;
(g) by coordinating to the necessary extent the safeguards which, for the protection of the interests of members and others, are required by Member States of companies or firms within the meaning of the second paragraph of Article III-142 with a view to making such safeguards equivalent throughout the Union;
(h) by satisfying themselves that the conditions of establishment are not distorted by aids granted by Member States.
ARTICLE III-139
This Subsection shall not apply, so far as any given Member State is concerned,
to activities which in that State are connected, even occasionally, with the
exercise of official authority. European laws or framework laws may exclude
certain activities from application of this Subsection.
ARTICLE III-140
1. This Subsection and measures adopted in pursuance thereof shall not prejudice
the applicability of provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative
action in Member States providing for special treatment for foreign nationals
on grounds of public policy, public security or public health.
2. European framework laws shall coordinate the national provisions referred
to in paragraph 1.
ARTICLE III-141
1. European framework laws shall make it easier for persons to take up and pursue activities as self-employed persons. They shall cover:
(a) the mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal
qualifications;
(b) the coordination of the provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative
action in Member States concerning the taking-up and pursuit of activities as
self-employed persons.
2. In the case of the medical and allied and pharmaceutical professions, the
progressive abolition of restrictions shall be dependent upon coordination of
the conditions for the exercise of such professions in the various Member States.
ARTICLE III-142
Companies or firms formed in accordance with the law of a Member State and having their registered office, central administration or principal place of business within the Union shall, for the purposes of this Subsection, be treated in the same way as natural persons who are nationals of Member States.
"Companies or firms" means companies or firms constituted under civil
or commercial law, including cooperative societies, and other legal persons
governed by public or private law, save for those which are non-profit-making.
ARTICLE III-143
Member States shall accord nationals of the other Member States the same treatment as their own nationals as regards participation in the capital of companies or firms within the meaning of the second paragraph of Article III-142, without prejudice to the application of the other provisions of the Constitution.
Subsection 3 - Freedom to provide services
ARTICLE III-144
Within the framework of this Subsection, restrictions on freedom to provide services within the Union shall be prohibited in respect of nationals of Member States who are established in a Member State other than that of the person for whom the services are intended.
European laws or framework laws may extend this Subsection to service providers who are nationals of a third State and who are established within the Union.
ARTICLE III-145
Services shall be considered to be "services" for the purposes of the Constitution where they are normally provided for remuneration, insofar as they are not governed by the provisions relating to freedom of movement for persons, goods and capital.
"Services" shall in particular include:
(a) activities of an industrial character;
(b) activities of a commercial character;
(c) activities of craftsmen;
(d) activities of the professions.
Without prejudice to Subsection 2 relating to freedom of establishment, the
person providing a service may, in order to do so, temporarily pursue his or
her activity in the Member State where the service is provided, under the same
conditions as are imposed by that State on its own nationals.
ARTICLE III-146
1. Freedom to provide services in the field of transport shall be governed by Section 7 of Chapter III relating to transport.
2. The liberalisation of banking and insurance services connected with movements
of capital shall be effected in step with the liberalisation of movement of
capital.
ARTICLE III-147
1. European framework laws shall establish measures to achieve the liberalisation of a specific service. They shall be adopted after consultation of the Economic and Social Committee.
2. European framework laws referred to in paragraph 1 shall as a general rule
give priority to those services which directly affect production costs or the
liberalisation of which helps to promote trade in goods.
ARTICLE III-148
The Member States shall endeavour to undertake liberalisation of services beyond the extent required by the European framework laws adopted pursuant to Article III-147(1), if their general economic situation and the situation of the economic sector concerned so permit. To this end, the Commission shall make recommendations to the Member States concerned.
ARTICLE III-149
As long as restrictions on freedom to provide services have not been abolished, the Member States shall apply such restrictions without distinction on grounds of nationality or of residence to all persons providing services within the meaning of the first paragraph of Article III-144.
ARTICLE III-150
Articles III-139 to III-142 shall apply to the matters covered by this Subsection.