Proposal for a directive
Article 79 b (new)
Article 79b Relations with third countries as regards works, supplies and service contracts 1. Member States shall inform the Commission of any general difficulties, in law or in fact, encountered and reported by their undertakings in securing the award of service contracts in third countries. 2. The Commission shall report to the European Parliament and to the Council before 31 December 2014, and periodically thereafter, on the opening up of service contracts in third countries and on progress in negotiations with these countries on this subject, particularly within the framework of the WTO. 3. The Commission shall endeavour, by approaching the third country concerned, to remedy any situation whereby it finds, on the basis either of the reports referred to in paragraph 2 or of other information, that, in the context of the award of service contracts, a third country: (a) does not grant Union undertakings effective access comparable to that granted by the Union to undertakings from that country; or (b) does not grant Union undertakings national treatment or the same competitive opportunities as are available to national undertakings; or (c) grants undertakings from other third countries more favourable treatment than Union undertakings. 4. Member States shall inform the Commission of any difficulties, in law or in fact, encountered and reported by their undertakings and which are due to the non-observance of the international social and environmental law provisions listed in Annex XIV when these undertakings have tried to secure the award of contracts in third countries. 5. In the circumstances referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4, the Commission may at any time propose that the Council decide to suspend or restrict, over a period to be laid down in the decision, the award of service contracts to: (a) undertakings governed by the law of the third country in question; (b) undertakings affiliated to the undertakings specified in point (a) and having their registered office in the Union but having no direct and effective link with the economy of a Member State; (c) undertakings submitting tenders which have as their subject-matter services originating in the third country in question. The Council shall act, by qualified majority, as soon as possible. The Commission may propose these measures on its own initiative or at the request of a Member State. 6. This Article shall be without prejudice to the commitments of the Union in relation to third countries ensuing from international agreements on public procurement, particularly within the framework of the WTO.