WRITTEN QUESTION E-0715/00

by Glyn Ford (PSE) to the Commission

(17 March 2000)

Subject: Third-country resident ethnic entrepreneurs

What steps is the Commission preparing to make it easier for third-country resident ethnic entrepreneurs to operate across the EU?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(26 May 2000)

The Commission would like to inform the Honourable Member that, as part of the Employment-Integra initiative, the Member States have implemented various projects aimed at nationals of third countries or persons belonging to ethnic minorities, who are resident in the Community and account for a disproportionately high number of the unemployed and those in insecure and low-skilled jobs. Very few of these projects were, however, aimed specifically at entrepreneurial activity. Similarly, under the Employment-Now initiative, a number of projects have focussed on business start-ups by women, including those belonging to ethnic minorities.

Furthermore, the purpose of the new Community EQUAL initiative (the guidelines for which were adopted on 14 April 2000(1)) is to attack all forms of discrimination and inequality relating to the labour market. One of the major themes of the initiative is to open up business start-up procedures to all parties.

On a more general level regarding the activities of an entrepreneur, the distinction should be made between an enterprise acting as a legal person and an entrepreneur acting as a natural person.

When an entrepreneur who is a third country national has legally set up a company which has its registered office, central administration or principal place of business in a Member State, the company as such forms an integral part of the Member State under the terms of Article 48 (ex Article 58) of the EC Treaty, and benefits from the right of establishment (Article 43 (ex Article 52) of the EC Treaty) and the freedom to provide services (Article 49 (ex Article 59) of the EC Treaty) within the internal market. However, the residence requirements for a third country national who is a manager or partner in such a company are not covered by Community law and are still governed by national legislation. On the basis of the new Title IV of the EC Treaty, it will be possible to adopt Community rules on the conditions of entry and residence for nationals of third countries for the purposes of paid employment or working in a self-employed capacity (Article 63(3)(a)), and on the rights under which nationals of third countries

who are legally resident in a Member State may reside in other Member States (Article 63(4)). In the Scoreboard(2) presented by the Commission and endorsed by the Council on 27 March 2000, it is stated that studies are under way on the admission of third country nationals with a view to the Commission presenting proposals for Directives.

On the other hand, an entrepreneur who is a third country national acting as a natural person already legally resident in the territory of a Member State does not benefit from the right of establishment under the terms of Article 43 of the EC Treaty. However, paragraph 2 of Article 49 of the EC Treaty enables the Council to extend the freedom to provide services to service providers who are third country nationals legally established in a Member State. In February 1999, the Commission therefore presented a proposal for a Council Directive extending the freedom to provide cross-border services to third country nationals established within the Community(3). As part of the scheduled consultation procedure, the Parliament welcomed this proposal (see the Berger report(4)) subject to certain amendments, particularly concerning the issue of bogus self-employed persons. Following the Parliament's opinion of 3 February 2000, the Commission will present an amended proposal as soon as possible.

On a more general note, the Commission has presented a package of measures based on Article 13, including the proposal for a Council Directive implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin(5), which was the subject of the Buitenweg report adopted by Parliament on 18 May 2000.

(1) COM(2000) 853.

(2) Scoreboard to review progress on the creation of an area of Freedom, security and justice in the European Union COM(2000) 167 final of 24 March 2000.

(3) OJ C 67, 10.3.1999.

(4) Berger report of 2 February 2000 (A5-0012/00).

(5) COM(1999) 566.