"Three policemen wounded, one fairly seriously; about one hundred square metres of glazed surfaces shattered": Jaume Duch, head of the Press Room Unit of the European Parliament, outlines for the press the first balance of the riots that took place in Strasbourg today. All through the day, thousands of demonstrators, "dockers" from many different countries, protested against the Directive about access to the port service market, which is to be discussed tomorrow by the floor and voted next Wednesday. The headquarters of the European Parliament (where the plenary meeting of the EU assembly is being held from today to Thursday), surrounded by hundreds of policemen in anti-riot gear, were targeted in the afternoon by throws of stones, bottles and smoke-producers. The dockers protest against the directive that should deregulate port services in Europe; the legal procedure, which began in 2001, had already being voted against in 2003. Now, the directive goes back to Parliament, but, as the Press Office of the Parliament explained, "even this time, its fate remains uncertain". The new regulations should control the "technical and marine service supplied within the port area" or "the port system". These services "include piloting, towing, mooring, all goods handling operations (loading, unloading and stowage) and passenger services". The directive "does not by any means concern the enforcement of the social legislation of the member states", including staff health, safety and use regulations, which were the main target of the dockers’ protest.
