Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2013:171
Date: 2013-03-14
Language of the case: French
Subject matter: Freedom to provide services
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Belgium

Summary — Judgment of the Court (First Chamber), 11 July 2013 1. Freedom of establishment — Freedom to provide services — Services in the internal market — Directive 2006/123 — Scope — Healthcare services — Day-care centres and Night-care centres providing assistance and care to elderly persons — Excluded — Conditions — Verification by the national court (European Parliament and Council Directive 2006/123, Art. 2(2)(f)) 2. Freedom of establishment — Freedom to provide services — Services in the internal market — Directive 2006/123 — Scope — Social services — Day-care centres and Night-care centres providing assistance and care to elderly persons — Excluded — Conditions — Verification by the national court (European Parliament and Council Directive 2006/123, Art. 2(2)(j)) 1. Article 2(2)(f) of Directive 2006/123 on services in the internal market must be interpreted as meaning that the exclusion of healthcare services from the scope of that directive covers any activity intended to assess, maintain or restore the state of health of patients, where that activity is carried out by healthcare professionals recognised as such by the Member State concerned, regardless of the ways in which the facilities in which that care is provided are organised and financed or whether they are public or private. It is for the national court to ascertain whether day-care centres and night-care centres are excluded from the scope of that directive, having regard to the nature of the activities carried out by the healthcare professionals in those centres and whether those activities constitute a principal part of the services offered by those centres. (see para. 53, operative part) 2. Article 2(2)(j) of Directive 2006/123 on services in the internal market must be interpreted as meaning that the exclusion of social services from the scope of that directive covers any activity relating, inter alia, to the care and assistance of elderly persons, where that activity is carried out by a private service provider which has been mandated by the State by means of an act conferring, in a clear and transparent manner, a genuine obligation to provide such services under specific conditions. It is for the national court to ascertain whether day-care centres and night-care centres are excluded from the scope of Directive 2006/123, on the basis of the nature of the principle activities of care and assistance of elderly persons carried out in those centres, and the status of those centres under the applicable national legislation. (see para. 53, operative part)