Professional (i.a. legal) services must be open to competition

The European Commission investigated the competition in professional services, including in the legal professions. Some EU Member States still have a lot of regulations that seriously restrict competition, for example by fixing prices or banning advertising. The European Commission monitored more particularly the following professional services: lawyers, notaries, engineers, architects, pharmacists and accountants, the latter including the related profession of tax advisers. The Commission's report gives a mixed picture: - 3 Member States (Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK) are making good progress with ongoing reform programmes - 5 Member States (France, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania and Slovakia) have made minor reforms and report that analytical work is underway to examine existing regulation - 6 Member States (Austria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Slov…