(29-30 November 2005) With a unanimous vote, the Executive committee of EPSU, which comprises of European Public Service Union leaders from all EU countries, condemned the vote on the services directive in the European Parliament Internal Market Committee (22 November).

EPSU general Secretary Carola Fischbach-Pyttel stated that "the attempts to define public services at European level is an ongoing debate. The vote to extend the scope of the Services Directive to some essential public services shows blatant disregard for the European political process". Of particular concern to EPSU is the contradiction between the European Commission’s conclusions on the White Paper on services of general interest and the Services Directive, also proposed by the Commission. The White Paper stated that no legal instruments clarifying public services at EU level were necessary due to provisions within the draft Constitutional Treaty. The Treaty is, of course, now in cold storage. However the provisions within the Services Directive are crafted as though public services have been clearly defined at EU level. This is simply not the case. Ms. Fischbach-Pyttel stated that "this embarrassing contradiction for the Commission is an illustration of what happens when one process is launched without even bothering to wait for the conclusions of the preceding one". The EPSU Executive urged the Commission to bring the Services of General Interest (Public Services) debate to a definitive conclusion, before embarking on an adventure as flawed as the services directive.

 Full text of the Executive Committee statement (EN / IT)

EC Statement - EN

EC Statement - IT