The single point of contact for NRW

E-mail: info@nrw-ea.de

Phone: +49 5231 7134 50
Telephone service hours: Mon. to Fri. 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Inquiries can be answered in German, English, French and Italian.

The objective of the EA is to promote the provision of cross-border services and to reduce bureaucratic barriers. This is set out in the EU Services Directive.

It provides support in all relevant procedures and formalities for starting a service activity or for recognising a foreign professional qualification. You can easily submit numerous applications for starting a business online via the Wirtschafts-Service-Portal.NRW. For the recognition of your foreign professional qualifications, you will find a lot of information on our website on how to proceed.

EA's services are free of charge. Only fees can be charged by the competent body for processing your application.

Information is provided immediately on the Wirtschafts-Service-Portal.NRW. Inquiries to the EA are usually answered within three days. The processing time for the handling of proceedings depends on the respective procedure and can be found in the corresponding procedure description.

As a one-stop shop for all questions relating to services, business start-ups and professional recognition, the EA supports you with the following services:

• Information about the necessary procedural steps to start or carry out your business project
• Coordination and mediation of the procedure between you and the competent authorities
• Information on chambers, registers and extracts
• Formal completeness check of incoming applications
• Information on advisory services

Contact person in Germany

At national level, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) is responsible for the implementation of the EU Services Directive. Its task is to coordinate the implementation of the Directive in the 16 federal states and to provide cross-border support. The Länder are responsible for implementing the specific measures. This leads to different models of the EA in the countries.

[Here you will find an overview of EA in Germany](https://www.bmwk.de/editorial staff/DE/article/small and medium-sized enterprises/uniform contact person.html). If you want to settle in another federal state, you will receive competent advice there.

EA in Europe

Since December 2009, the Single Point of Contact has been legally binding in all EU countries. All EAs of EU countries are part of the EUGO network. Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway participate on a voluntary basis.

Here is a European Commission overview of EA in the EU.

Your Europe helps you cope in other European countries while avoiding unnecessary stumbling blocks and bureaucracy.

A search engine for support services such as EA is available on the Your Europe portal. Citizens, consumers and businesses can use the machine to be redirected to the most appropriate support service.

The EA operates on the basis of various legal bases. These are as follows:

Services Directive 2006/123/EC

The Services Directive refers to Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12. December 2006 on services in the internal market. The aim of the Directive is to strengthen the European internal market.

The aim is to make it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises to grow beyond their national borders. The Directive applies to all industrial, commercial, craft and professional activities. Excluded are, inter alia, activities in the areas of finance, health, transport, temporary agency work and private security services.

Article 6 of the Directive requires Member States to ensure that service providers are able to complete all the procedures and formalities necessary for the reception and performance of their services through EA.

Professional Qualifications Directive

Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 September 2005 regulates the recognition of professional qualifications.

It aims to make the recognition of professional qualifications more efficient and transparent. This makes it easier for EU citizens in particular to have their vocational training qualifications recognised in Germany.

The Directive thus contributes to a more flexible labour market, to the automation of the recognition of professional qualifications and to the simplification of administrative procedures.

The Directive was amended by Directive 2013/55/EU. The amendment stipulated, among other things, that all procedures and formalities under the Professional Qualifications Directive can also be handled through the EA.

Economic Portal Act North Rhine-Westphalia

The requirements of the EU Services Directive and the EU Professional Recognition Directive on the establishment of an EA are transposed into national law in North Rhine-Westphalia with the law on the portal for business-related administrative services (Wirtschafts-Portal-Gesetz Nordrhein-Westfalen, WiPG).