Calling all entrepreneurs! Could your business idea become the next big thing in Milan, Krakow or Valletta? Who can you go to for advice? The one-stop shops or points of single contact in officialese have been set up by the services directive to encourage

One-stop shop for business

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/14900927/N001-100427-003-EN.srt

At this building site   dozens of Belgians and French

We’re in Mons, in the south of   Belgium, not far from France.

To work in Belgium he went through the   administrative hoops in a one-stop shop.

The point of single contact   that we went to in Tournai

saw us in one morning with our papers.   The specifics were finalised beforehand.

All in all it took a week   to acquire all the accreditations.

Businessman who want to work   in another EU country

can go to an office,   like this one in Brussels.

Belgium is one of nine countries   that respects the services directive

which has been in effect since   28 December 2009.

But two-thirds of countries   are lagging behind,

according to Eurochambres, the union of   European chambers of commerce.

It’s upsetting because   we've made a lot of effort

to move towards something that is   useful for business,

We must put pressure on Member States   to get up to scratch as soon as possible.

For this French businessman the   application of VAT needs to be simplified

in order to encourage   crossborder business.

I have French sub-contractors who work   in Belgium for Belgian clients,

I also have Belgian sub-contractors who   work here for French clients,

and it’s not always easy to know   if we should bill with or without VAT.

Alexandre Ruelle says he is ready to   try in the Netherlands, Spain and Italy.

According to the EU Commission,   this law could create 600,000 new jobs.