Brussels, 31/10/2006 (Agence Europe) - Several organisations reacted to the vote in the parliamentary committee on the directive on services in the internal market. Last week, MEPs had taken a stance in favour of the Council's common position on this dossier by rejecting all the amendments submitted (see EUROPE 9293). During the plenary vote scheduled for mid-November, the Commission will make a declaration on the five elements that pose a problem for MEPs.
The SME-Union network of the EPP-ED group at the European Parliament strongly supports the decision by the internal market committee. “From now on, the road is clear for a rapid and necessary agreement at the next plenary session in November”, it states. It recalls that the Council common position is the result of a balance being struck between the very different requests and opinions from Member States. It goes on to add that consumers will benefit from a better quality of service at lower cost. In particular, small and medium-sized companies in Europe need liberalisation of the European services market in order to pilot economic growth and employment. The network welcomes British Conservative Malcolm Harbour in particular for his unfailing support of the position expressed by enterprise.
The parliamentary committee adopted a reasonable attitude leaving the Council common position unchanged, says UEAPME (European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprise), adding that later changes would have endangered the delicate compromise on which the legislative text is based. Although this is not a perfect solution, the directive proposed strikes a good balance by opening the services sector while at the same time ensuring adequate procedures for SMEs, high quality services as well as consumer protection, UEAPME states.
Disappointed by the results of the vote, the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) says it is even more determined to gain an equitable result on the services directive for public service users. “We shall ensure that there is unequivocal exclusion of social services from the scope of the directive”, it says, confident that it has sufficient allies within the EP for achieving such an objective. The trade union organisation recalls that the Parliament has recognised the need to make an appropriate definition of social services at European level.
The SSIG-FR, which groups 14 French organisations active in the social services sector, “deplores the vote in parliamentary committee and the rejection of amendments” on social services. The “return to an open list based on the Parliament's vote at first reading but taking up the different Council and Commission contributions would, however, have been quite consistent with the work underway on the notion of social services of general interest” (SSGI), it states. It recalls that the Commission communication on SSGI recognised the “existence of specific criteria” such as “universality, equality, solidarity, democratic control, services to answer a fundamental right, regulation and specific financing and also the lack of profitability” (see EUROPE 9180). The SSIG-FR “expects the Commission to keep its commitment” to present a “written declaration on the impact of the directive on social services” by the vote mid-November.
The Mutuelle générale de l'éducation natoinale française (MGEN) “regrets” the rejection of all the amendments submitted. It above all deplores the fact that the amendment aimed at excluding “social and complementary protection schemes was not adopted” in a concern for consistency with work underway at the European level on the notion of SSGI. (mb)