In June 2015, the European Commission launched an infringement procedure against Germany on the grounds that the German minimum compulsory tariffs for architects and engineers (Honorarordnung für Architekten und Ingenieure – HOAI) would allegedly violate the Services Directive by preventing professionals from other Member States from establishing and providing their services freely in Germany. On 28 February 2019, the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), Maciej Szpunar, released his opinion which considered the minimum and maximum tariffs as unlawful.
On 27 May the ECEC and the ACE (Architects Council of Europe) both released a press information to express their experience that the HOAI does not constitute an obstacle to cross-border establishment and provision of architectural and engineering services in Europe and that the abolition of compulsory fee-scales in other Member States did not lead to an increase in cross-border establishment in the past.