07/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - With two Socialist French members of the European Parliament (Marie-Noëlle Lienemann and André Lagniel) signing an appeal in Le Monde of 6 7 February “Against Bolkestein!”, together with French deputies, CSU MEP Joachim Wuermeling has spoken out against those who are causing “unjustified panic” on the proposed directive on services in the internal market. Mr Wuermeling, who explicitly calls on the Commissioner for the Internal Market, Charlie McCreevy, not to withdraw the proposal presented by his predecessor Frits Bolkestein (which the Commission has never said it wants to: see EUROPE of 5 February, p.7), recognises that a certain amount of clarification is needed, especially on services of general interest and the control competencies of the national authorities. Liberalisation is the only option to exploit the potential of this sector in terms of job creation, insists Mr Wuermeling, who feels that the much-decried directive could be particularly interesting for a country such as Germany, “which now has over five million unemployed” and, at the same time, high-value services which are hindered by bureaucracy.