Postnikova, E.V. Evolution of legal regulation of freedom of services in the EU.

Abstract: The European Union (the EU) has a well-developed mechanism for the legal regulation of provision of services. The process of liberalization of trade in services in the EU has been uneven, reflecting the key tendency in the global economy. The article is devoted to the formation of the mechanism of legal regulation of the freedom to provide services, and the author evaluates its efficiency at various historical stages. Much attention is paid to the EU secondary law and the practice of the EU Court, which are aimed to remove barriers for the freedom of services, and to the tendencies of legal regulation. In late years the process of development of new norms and amending the existing norms has been intensive in the sphere of provision of service, and it is aimed to form a single market of services, including the single market for the public purchases of services. In spite of the comparatively high level of liberalization in the sphere of services in the EU, the process of the formation of the united inner market for services is not over. It is due to the fact that not all of the principles, which form the basis for the domestic markets, are completely accepted, as well as to the specific nature of the service as an economic category. Therefore, the issues of implementation of freedom of services are quite topical, and the legal regulation in this sphere keeps developing rapidly.

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