EU Auditors publish report on cross-border provision of services in the EU

On Wednesday 25 March 2026, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) will publish a special report on on cross-border provision of services in the EU.​

In the EU, individuals and companies have the right to provide and receive services across borders without discrimination or unjustified restrictions. In practice, the free movement of services promotes economic integration and competition, and underscores the bloc’s single market. However, for years services have found it an uphill struggle to benefit fully from the single market.

The auditors assessed whether the European Commission succeeded in removing barriers to services hindering growth and development in the EU. In addition, they analysed the national barriers and their root causes, looking closely at a sample of six countries: Germany, Estonia, France, Italy, Lithuania, and Hungary. The auditors’ observations are expected to help the Commission to become more effective at integrating the single market for services.

The report and press release will be published on the ECA’s website (eca.europa.eu​) at 17:00 CET on the same day.

The ECA Member responsible for the report is Hans Lindblad.

The ECA’s special reports set out the results of its audits of EU policies and programmes or management topics related to specific budgetary areas. The ECA selects and designs these audit tasks to be of maximum impact by considering the risks to performance or compliance, the level of income or spending involved, forthcoming developments and political and public interest.​