People at the centre

With applause and sighs of relief the European Parliament (EP) in Strasbourg has given the go ahead to the controversial Services Directive, a provision that, at least in the Commission’s original intentions, was supposed to open this economic sector to free competition, favouring its development and the simultaneous creation of new jobs. During its session of 13-16 November, the EP also focused attention on the Executive’s programme of work for 2007, the situation in Gaza, energy policy and “milk quotas”. REVIVING THE ECONOMY. The Services Directive, approved by the EP (adoption of the common position of the Council) after a parliamentary process lasting over two years, “combines the interests of workers with those of consumers and the business world”. By suppressing “the principle of country of origin” it also helps “to place people at the centre of policy”. German MEP EVELYNE GEBHARDT , rapporteur of the provision, says she is “satisfied by the agreement reached” between the political forces. The Directive introduces elements of competition into the sector, while avoiding “an unhealthy competition between the social systems of member states”. The economic sectors regulation by the Directive include business services (managerial and business consultancies, certification and testing, advertising, and so on), those linked to the real-estate sector, services to consumers, including those in tourism, and some personal services, such as assistance to the elderly. “The Directive applies only to the services that are provided against payment of the corresponding fee”, while those “non-economic services of general interest are excluded”. According to Commissioner CHARLIE McCREEVY , the provision “represents a fundamental effort to revive the European economy through the completion of the internal market”. THE AGENDA OF BARROSO. A debate was then held on the Commission’s priorities for the next twelve months: MEPs will be called to adopt a Resolution on the Executive’s agenda during the session in December. Commission President JOSÉ MANUEL BARROSO tackled various “urgent questions” (energy, immigration, security, innovation, etc.), pointed out the achievements of his team and recalled the various projects still in progress. The Portuguese statesman underlined the need to multiply the common actions of member states. Considerable emphasis was also placed on the enlargement of EU frontiers: in January 2007 the EU will be enlarged by the accession of Romania and Bulgaria, and the representatives of these two countries “will be given responsibilities for consumer policy and multilingualism”. “In centuries to come – declared Barroso -, historians will say that enlargement was our generation’s most important means of promoting peace, prosperity and stability”. “2007: TURNING POINT”. According to Barroso, “2007, the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaties of Rome, will mark a turning point, since it will exploit all the power of the Community to respond to citizens’ hopes and also benefit from a new financial framework”. The Commission’s programme comprises 21 “strategic initiatives” and a secondary list “of priority initiatives in other important fields”. Among the fields of action, Barroso cited energy policy (secure supplies), climate change, the “need to attract highly skilled migrants”, the reduction of clandestine immigration, and the fight against terrorism. “But 2007 will also be the year in which the institutional question should also be solved”: in this regard, the head of the Executive declared that “the Berlin Declaration to celebrate the 50th anniversary should be clear and concise; it should re-affirm what it is that unites us, and especially what we intend to do with Europe in the next fifty years”. REACTIONS IN THE CHAMBER. The reactions of the political groups were various, some supporting the work of Barroso and his team, others a good deal more critical. French People’s Party exponent FRANÇOISE GROSSETÊTE expressed her appreciation of the “political character” of the programme and the determination to simplify Community law. German Socialist MEP MARTIN SCHULZ said he “had the feeling of déjà vu” and that in any case the “programme would have to be not only announced, but effectively implemented”. SILVANA KOCH-MEHRIN , German Liberal Democrat, would have “preferred a more ambitious programme”. In a phase of “weakness of the European Council”, we must, according to the Belgian Green Party exponent PIERRE JONCKHEER, “rely at least on the Commission to take forward the European project”. Critical views on the Commission’s performance were expressed by the left with the German MEP GABRIELE ZIMMER (lack of attention to the problems of poverty, social exclusion and the protection of nature), and by the right, in the intervention of the Irish MEP BRIAN CROWLEY (too slow progress in the Lisbon Strategy).