Public service unions deplore Parliament’s pro-business vote on internal market strategy (12 March 2004)

The 11 March plenary vote on the report on the Internal market strategy priorities 2003-2006 sends worrying signals for the future of social Europe. In an unholy alliance of Christian Democrats and Liberals, the European Parliament voted for an Internal Market that will only serve the private interests of big business to the detriment of Europe’s public interest. This majority block defeated several amendments arguing for a more balanced social Europe. It also makes a farce of the ongoing discussion on the future of public services by defeating an amendment that sought to condition the draft Internal Market of Services Directive upon progress with the legal framework on Services of General Interest, as called for by Parliament in an earlier vote last January.