Brussels, 01/06/2010 (Agence Europe) - Speaking on behalf of all the Socialist members of the European Parliament, Catherine Trautmann, who heads the French Socialist delegation, described the European Commission's request to change the SNCF into a private limited liability company as “scandalous provocation” (EUROPE 10149). “This proposal again shows the European Commission's political tendency to seek to unravel all the public services in Europe. The European right has already imposed liberalisation of rail freight - and it is a failure. The future of the Post Office is gloomy. And, most recently, the European Commission has even attacked social housing in the Netherlands. It is time for this to stop!”, Trautmann exclaimed, adding that privatisation of British rail and the difficulties this has entailed should have served as an example for the European Commission and dissuaded it from going along the same road.
Gilles Pargneaux, a member of the EP transport committee, pointed out that Etablissements public à caractère industriel et commercial (EPIC) - the current SNCF status - had been created by the Jospin government to meet a need that could be assured by an industrial or commercial company but which, depending on the importance of the sector within society, cannot be correctly carried out by a private company subject to competition. This status, he said, is necessary in some sensitive sectors due to a concern for effectiveness and control, and when it is essential for those sectors to work properly. (F.G./transl.jl)