Mr President, the relationship between the free market and the liberal professions is not a straightforward one, as Commissioner Monti has made clear. As you know, Mr Lehne, Mr Zappalà and other Members have been working in my committee for over a year on a directive on professional qualifications, and we are, therefore, very familiar with the specific, exceptional nature of the liberal professions. Members of the liberal professions offer an independent service based on an extremely high level of knowledge on which it is difficult to place a value. For this reason, professional activities are regulated by an ethical code covering relationships between professionals, between professionals and their clients, and between professionals and society as a whole. The behaviour of professionals is governed by an ethical framework covering their precise duties and the requirements of the service determined by professionals themselves, and this ethical framework therefore represents the first step towards regulation in terms of interpretation and application. A sociologist from the United States, Fredson, demonstrates in his work that the system of the professions corresponds to the work ethic, which has to strike a fair balance – and I agree with Commissioner Monti on this – between profit and the implementation of rules, which are the hallmarks of the market and of bureaucracy. This, in itself, is exceptional. Members of the liberal professions need to be granted a special status in order to maintain this delicate and difficult balance, not just in their own interest but also in the interest of society as a whole. Furthermore, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, in Article 5, freedom to choose an occupation, stipulates that everyone has the right to pursue a freely chosen or accepted occupation, and freedom to choose an occupation is different from free enterprise. As stated in the Treaty, Commissioner Monti, the general interest mission of the liberal professions may also justify certain limits to the rules of competition. For this reason, legislation and the ethical regulatory framework may provide for exemptions from competition law in specific cases: in relation to professional fees, which may be mandatory, being set by the state; as regards an integrated approach to exercising the profession; in relation to advertising, where ethical codes may rule out the possibility of professionals passing judgment on each other; as regards membership of social insurance institutions; as regards mandatory membership of pension funds, which is accepted; and as regards exclusive rights for certain regulated professions. When all is said and done, Mr President, the rules that are necessary for each specific profession to ensure that profession's impartiality, competence, integrity and responsibility for funds are not considered to be constraints on competition. The activities of the liberal professions should, therefore, ensure that professionals and the services that they provide help to offer positive solutions to the challenges that we face, thus protecting the general interest of society at large. The standards drawn up by professional associations under their own responsibility, with a view to safeguarding the quality of service provided, guarantee that such rules are observed in accordance with the conventions of professionalism and professional ethics. I accordingly believe – and this reflects Commissioner Monti's statement – that, in this way, and solely by virtue of the delicate balance that we have to strike between profit and ethics, a fair relationship can be established between the free market, competition, regulation and ethics in general.

Political group: PPE-DE