How Member States Should Deal With Prices for Services of Architects and Engineers

This thesis analyses the question of how Member States of the European Union should deal with prices for architectural and engineering services. The main focus is on the question of the extent to which price specifications by the Member States make sense from the perspective of European law and economics. In this respect, the work deals with political decision-making processes, legislative measures and institutional framework conditions that influence pricing. The political implications of setting prices for architectural and engineering services are therefore analysed.

In order to find an answer to this question, three options are first developed for how Member States should deal with prices for architectural and engineering services. These options are based on an analysis of the legal systems in the Member States of the European Union. They include the following: Member States can adopt binding, non-binding or no pricing legislation at all for architectural and engineering services.

The extent to which these three options are compatible with European law is then analysed. In order to ascertain the compatibility of the three options with European law, it is first necessary to present the relevant European law and then analyse the case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on prices for goods and services in the Member States. This analysis will then inform the assessment of whether the three options are compatible with European law. Furthermore, the extent to which the three options correspond to economic theories will be analysed. To this end, the economic theories on prices for goods and services will be presented, after which they will be applied to the three options.

The thesis will conclude that the enactment of non-binding price legislation for architectural and engineering services is legally permissible and economically sound. The other two options are legally impermissible or economically unviable. In light of this, it is recommended that the Member States of the European Union adopt non-binding price legislation for architectural and engineering services.