Brussels, 21/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in Congress in Stockholm from 14 to 17 June, the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) adopted an emergency resolution whereby it declares it is against Commissioner Frits Bolkestein's controversial directive on services, and debated a resolution on the protection and promotion of public services under the slogan: "Public Services - Europe's Strength". EPSU Secretary General Carola Fischbach-Pytell attacked what she considers to be the "deliberately obscure nature of the Bolkestein directive". She says: "Commissioner Bolkestein does not want people to understand, hoping that it would slip by without discussion".
Speaking on this occasion, outgoing MEP Philippe Herzog (GUE, France), who has strenuously fought to improve the text, felt that the "big mobilisation of trade unions and politicians" against the free-for-all measures being advocated by the Bolkestein directive was "a message of optimism". He deplored the Commission's systematic refusal to undertake a valid evaluation of its proposed law. "We have not yet won the democratic struggle on proposed legislation on which the European Commission is judge and jury, covering a huge area where democracy has to prevail", Philippe Herzog said, refusing, however, to believe in the ability to resist on the part of those who refuse the directive. The Irish EU Presidency, for its part, has, through the voice of its Minister for European Affairs, Dick Roche, assured that the public services and fundamental rights would be in no way reduced by application of the directive. He recalled that some Member States, like Sweden and Finland, raised the question of the directive's impact on education, health and other sectors.
As far as the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, another subject of discussion at the Congress, is concerned, Christian Zahn, of Ver.di (Germany), urged Mr Roche not to accept the lowest common denominator approach and to guarantee that the Charter will be incorporated into the Constitution.