Services Standards: Defining the Core Consumer Elements ... - ANEC

Services Standards
Such knowledge is just the first step to build on new strategies in
standardisation of services. It is striking to see that the area of services which is
nearest to standardisation is the postal sector. In this respect the developments
in the postal field might affect all those services now harmonised by the Service
Directive.
V. New instruments/new actors – and the effects on contracts for
services
Most of the procedures, here analysed under the distinction between traditional
and less traditional regulators, 182 have just been set up and the guidelines,
recommendations and other soft regulatory instruments have been published
only recently. However, some tendencies are becoming clear already. They
demonstrate the size of the challenge to consumer representations which result
from the appearance of new actors and new regulatory techniques. The EC
legislator, whilst heavily fostering the involvement of new actors and new
techniques, does not, or does not take sufficiently into account that the status of
consumer representations as well as their rights and duties need to be legally
determined. There are two different interpretations possible: the negative
interpretation would be to understand the reluctance as a means to reduce the
consumer input to symbolic action; the positive would be to enhance the
emergence of a European civil society which might yield the necessary
institutions and structures to provide for the necessary input.
1. Differing regulatory intensities in co-regulation
Co-regulation is not a clear-cut concept. The Lamfalussy procedure is nearest
to traditional regulatory intervention, in the sense that the legislator – European
Parliament and Council – and later on the executive, the Commission, hold the
lawmaking procedure firm in its hands. The management of the third level lies in
the hands of the competent committee, CESR (Committee on European
Securities Regulators dealing with financial instruments) and CEIPOS
(Committee on European Insurance and Occupational Pensions sectors dealing
with insurance and occupational pensions). Although the lawmaking process
has not yet reached the fourth level, Directive 2004/39/EC 183 on financial
instruments (first level) and Directive 2006/73/EC 184 implementing Directive
2004/39/EC on financial instruments (second level) might be paradigmatic for
the way in which the competences are shared. Section 2 of Directive
182 See Chapter II, IV.
183 OJ L 145, 30.4.2004, 1.
184 OJ L 241, 2.9.2006, 26.
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