Brussels, 20/05/2010 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament has adopted, without amendment, the own initiative report by own initiative report by Heide Rühle (Greens/EFA, Germany) on developing a European public procurement policy following the coming into force at the start of 2006 of the revised regulatory framework (directives 2004/17/EC and 2004/18/EC). It took the view that no purpose would be served at this point in amending European legislation and opening a European initiative of service concessions (see EUROPE 10129). This form of public-private partnership is not covered by European rules so as to allow greater flexibility and take account of cultural differences, Rühle said during the debate in plenary session on Monday 17 May. She said that “this position is supported by all the stakeholders” to whom she had spoken: local authority and business organisations, unions and associations. In their report, MEPs highlight that “any proposal for a legal act dealing with service concessions would have to be justified only with a view to remedying distortions in the functioning of the internal market; such distortions have not hitherto been indentified”.
The EP rejected an alternative resolution from the Socialist group. Evelyne Gebhardt (S&D, Germany) raised three points of disagreement with the rapporteur. The Socialists cannot accept that the report chooses to overlook the need for a European framework to govern services of general economic interest nor calls for increased legal security for social services. “It is an omission (which) we deeply regret,” Gebhardt said. She said that the EP was not fulfilling its political role by not stating its position on the issue of service concessions because “the Court (had) already resolved everything”. “It is important that we state clearly what we want when the European Commission is preparing a legislative text,” she said.
Industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani indicated that “the burden of proof” lay with the Commission by means of “an impact assessment which will be finalised in 2010”. “If it so happens that the current legal framework is slowing economic development or the development of a new service of general interest of higher quality, then things will have to be remedied through greater transparency, legal security and clarity of applicable rules,” he observed. (M.B./transl.rt)