Brussels, 16/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - The debate on putting the services directive back to on the rails has been relaunched. In a telephone call to José Manuel Barroso, Jacques Chirac deemed the directive “unacceptable”. This latest attack from the French President comes on the heels of declarations from the President of the Commission on Monday in Brussels, in which he said that the highly controversial country of origin principle would be “largely” maintained in the directive text (EUROPE of 15 March, p.9). The German European Parliament rapporteur Evelyne Gebhardt deemed Mr Barroso's proposals “cynical”.
Jacques Chirac phoned José Manuel Barroso on Tuesday to reiterate his demand for a complete “rethink” of the legislative proposal on services, pointing out to him that the Commission committed to revising the text. Mr Chirac also had a telephone conversation with Jean-Claude Juncker (see p.7). The French demand to rethink the legislative proposal is supported by Germany, Belgium and Sweden.
The French National Assembly on Tuesday adopted a resolution demanding a review of the services directive, which is erupting into the national debate on the ratification of the Constitution, on which the French will express their views in a referendum on 29 May.
Evelyne Gebhardt: the Parliament will fight for an “in-depth reworking” of the text
“We finally know where we stand. Up to now, the European Commission has been very vague, it is not prepared to make progress”, commented Evelyne Gebhardt, adding: “the Parliament will fight for an in-depth reworking” of the directive. Asked about the country of origin principle, she said that she had “never” demanded its total exclusion, but that it “could not remain the basic principle”, particularly for commercial services and services of general interest. Ms Gebhardt hopes to be able to complete her amendments by the end of March, with a view to a vote in the Parliamentary committee at the end of May or beginning of June. On the vote in plenary, “June will no longer be an option”, she said. It should therefore take place in July.
The second meeting of the EP working group on the “Bolkestein” directive will take place this Thursday. The first meeting tried to clarify the provisions on obstacles to the provision of services, in terms of demands to be removed (article 14) or assessed (article 15). The second meeting will concentrate on freedom of establishment.