Act on Services in the Internal Market (No. 136/2010 Z.z.)

Pursuing the aim to implement Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (Directive on Services in the Internal Market), the Slovak Republic adopted the Act on Services in the Internal Market and on Amendments to Certain Laws (Act No. 136/2010 Z.z.) coming into force on 1 June 2010.

The Law is a general regulation applicable to the provision of services by the so-called established service providers (they provide a service and simultaneously have an establishment in the territory of the Slovak Republic) and the so-called cross-border service providers (providers established in some other EU Member State providing services in the territory of the Slovak Republic).

The service providers will be affected by the following changes:

• Uniform points of contact serving as intermediaries between the respective administration bodies and service providers. This function shall be performed by the trade licence offices and the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic.

• A summarised process of obtaining authorisation to provide services (Section 3) bringing four improvements: (i) certificates and documents issued within the EU shall be acknowledged; (ii) certain conditions for obtaining the authorisation may be met in another Member State; (iii) cover under a third party liability insurance taken out in another Member State shall suffice, provided the territory of the Slovak Republic is covered; and (iv) the application may be filed directly with the respective body or at individual points of contact.

• The provider shall have a right to free commercial communication (Section 7) (read as presentation of the service, goods, business name, trade mark and other rights).

• Prior to the execution and delivery of the contract or the provision of the service, the provider shall inform the service recipient about all the facts specified in Section 6(1), notably the detailed identification of the provider, general service terms and conditions, information regarding the service liability, price, basic description of the service and the scope of the third party liability cover; whereas the information may be published, for instance, on the web pages of the service provider. Failure to comply with this duty shall be penalised with a fine from € 100 to € 1,500 (Section 18).

• The service provider shall ensure that the services are equally available to the service recipients regardless of their nationality, residence or registered office (Section 10). Failure to comply with this duty shall be penalised with a fine from € 100 to € 3,000 (Section 18).

• Some cross-border services (Section 8), e.g. services provided in the general economic interest (postal services, power supply services, etc.) or counselling and auditing services shall be prohibited.

The Law further sets forth the rules for mutual cooperation of the bodies of the individual Member States as well as in relation to the European Commission. It is a matter of supervision and adoption of measures capable of restricting the provision of services with the aim to protect their recipients. Pursuant to special regulations, the supervision over compliance with the statutory duties in the territory of the Slovak Republic shall be exercised by the Slovak Trade Inspection and other bodies.