Services Directive Euro Parl Decision POSTPONED ! vote scheduled 22 November
Amid scenes of confusion and recrimination yesterday (4 October) the Internal Market Committee (IMCO) of the European Parliament decided to postpone any decision on the Services (Bolkestein) Directive. This is a significant moral victory for those opposed to the directive, as the failure to hold a vote is due largely to the incoherency of the proposed legislation. It is also a significant opportunity for EPSU affiliates as the new timetable, Internal market committee vote on 21-22 November and Plenary vote in January, gives Public Service Unions a real chance to persuade MEP’s of the folly of this legislation (more to follow on coordinated action from EPSU).
The key rapporteur for the Parliament, Socialist MEP Evelyne Gebhardt stated that the postponement of the vote was due to tactics from the Centre-Right and Liberal groups, which bordered on the ‘abusive’. She went on to say that the stubborn insistence of the right in guarding the ‘Country of origin’ principle, was causing a total block on progress.
German MEP Heide Rühle, Green/EFA group Internal Market Committee coordinator, predicted that the poorly drafted directive would only lead to confusion; “the draft directive that the Commission presented is both insufficient and dangerous. This is illustrated by the enormous number of amendments - 1124 in total - tabled in advance of today’s (October 4) vote. This vote (would) create totally incoherent legislation."
In addition the European Union of Christian Democratic Workers (ECDW), which is a part of the European Peoples Party (EPP), stated that the directive has a long way to go before it is ‘socially balanced’ and that the Country of Origin Principle must be dropped.
Since the beginning of the negotiations for compromise amendments the clash between Left parties and the centre-right European Peoples Party has been tough; during the last week the Liberal Group ALDE decided not to support the already discussed compromise amendments and on Monday 3 October (24H before the vote) ALDE and EPP presented their own compromises. The committee President Mr. Phillip Whitehead (UK, LAB) did not accept them and so the final decision has been to postpone the vote. A "window" for compromise amendments has been open till the 12 of October, the vote is expected in IMCO the 21,22 of November, and the plenary vote in January (under the Austrian EU Presidency).
More news from EPSU on co-ordinated action for 21 November IMCO vote to follow.
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