Services Directive

"The Commission has no excuse now to keep stalling"

Press Communication, immediate release

(15 November, 2006, Strasbourg) The Services Directive vote, which took place in the European Parliament today, marks the end of almost three years of debate and political manoeuvring. "It is now high-time for the European Union, and the European Commission in particular, to give equal weight and consideration to building a modern social Europe", said European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) General Secretary Carola Fischbach-Pyttel. "The European project must now re-engage with citizens through a genuine debate on a concrete legal text for public services in the EU," she continued. "Today’s vote in the European Parliament on the services directive should mark a line in the sand."

"We are committed to getting a fair result for the users of social services" says Union leader

Press Communication - (24 October, Brussels) The result in the Internal Market Committee of the European Parliament yesterday has "strengthened the resolve" of the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) to get a fair result for public service users on the services directive. Speaking to affiliates yesterday, Carola Fischbach-Pyttel, EPSU General Secretary, stated that; "We will make sure, on Social Services, that there is an unequivocal exclusion from the scope of the directive".

EPSU’s response to the open consultation by the European Commission on the future of the Internal Market calls for the EU to reorientate it policies towards the central objectives of sustainable development, equality, and social and economic cohesion. The Internal Market should be evaluated and judged against its contribution to these objectives, not the other way round.
EPSU recalls that solidarity, which is embedded in public services, is necessary for societies to function. Europe needs (...)

Press communication

(31 May, Brussels) In the light of the Council of Ministers vote on the services directive on 29 May, EPSU will be pushing hard for the European Parliament to resolve many of the outstanding problems when it returns for second reading in September. “The Services Directive still contains many problems for Europe’s public service workers, and in the context of the wider EU legislative agenda, there are some flat-out contradictions contained in the text,” said EPSU General Secretary, Carola Fischbach-Pyttel.

FR - DE - SP - IT - PL (see also right-hand column)
(24 February 2006, Brussels) Following the European Parliament plenary vote on 16 February, the spotlight is now on the 13 March Competitiveness Council of Ministers (i.e. the Member State Governments). EPSU concluded that the results of the vote on the Services Directive represented “significant progress”, particularly on health and social services. EPSU invested in a highly visible mobilising and lobbying presence to ensure (...)

Press Communication -immediate release 9 February 2006

“The European Parliament must get the legislative procedure right”

Communiqué de presse - émission immédiate 9 février 2006

«Le parlement européen doit suivre l’ordre logique des procédures législatives»

Public Service trade unions take aim against the directive Across the European Union, EPSU affiliate unions are mobilising against the despised Services Directive. The growing momentum is timed to give maximum visibility to the issue in advance of the crucial vote in the European Parliament (set to take place in Strasbourg on 16th February).
The trade union action will culminate with a demonstration in Strasbourg on 14 February.The number of national actions is illustrative of the level of (...)

FR - DE - ES - SV
The Services Directive has become on of the most contentious proposal in recent EU history, rivalling even the EU constitution. Click here to see our new animation. On 14 February, in Strasbourg, EPSU will participate in the latest of a series of large demonstrations against the Services Directive.
The message to MEP’s? "Greetings from social Europe, wish you were here!"
The key demand of the European Federation of Public Service Unions is to outline a positive European (...)

La directive sur les services est devenue le projet le plus contesté dans l’histoire européenne récente, rivalisant même avec la Constitution européenne. Cliquez ici pour voir notre nouvelle animation.
Le 14 février, à Strasbourg, la FSESP participera à la dernière des grandes manifestations contre la directive sur les services.
Le message aux Membres du Parlement européen ? "Salutations de l’Europe sociale...si seulement vous étiez là !"
La demande-clé de la Fédération Syndicale Européenne des Services publics est (...)

ETUC key amendments to the Service Directive for EP Plenary vote 14 February

Draft Services Directive remains unacceptable!
Let us mobilise for a social Europe - against social dumping!
For quality public services - quality of life!
Let us demonstrate our opposition to the Bolkestein Directive on 14 February at 12.00 in Strasbourg!
FR - DE - SP - SV
The draft services directive will enter a critical stage with the first plenary reading in the European Parliament now fixed for the 14 and 15 February 2006 in Strasbourg. Within the European Parliament’s Internal Market (...)

Le Projet de Directive sur les services reste inacceptable !
Mobilisons-nous pour une Europe sociale, contre le dumping social !
Pour des services publics de qualité - la qualité de la vie !
Manifestons notre opposition à la Directive Bolkestein, le 14 février à 12 h à Strasbourg
EN - DE - SP - SV Le projet de Directive sur les services va entrer dans une phase critique avec la première lecture en séance plénière au Parlement européen qui a été fixée aux 14 et 15 février 2006 à Strasbourg. Le Comité du marché intérieur et (...)

Der Dienstleistungsrichtlinienentwurf ist nach wie vor nicht akzeptabel! Kämpfen wir für ein soziales Europa und gegen Sozialdumping! Für qualitativ hochwertige öffentliche Dienste und Lebensqualität! Wir rufen auf zur Demonstration gegen die Bolkestein-Richtlinie am 14. Februar um 12:00 Uhr in Straßburg!
EN - FR - SP - SV
mit der ersten Abstimmung in Plenartagung des Europäischen Parlaments am 14. und 15. Februar 2006 in Straßburg beginnt für den Dienstleistungsrichtlinienentwurf eine kritische Phase. Im Ausschuss (...)

La propuesta de Directiva de servicios es inaceptable ¡Todos a favor de la Europa social y en contra del dumping social! ¡Servicios públicos de calidad: calidad de vida! Convocada en Estrasburgo para el 14 de febrero, a las 12.00, una manifestación de rechazo a la Directiva Bolkestein
EN - FR - DE - SV
La propuesta de Directiva de servicios está a punto de entrar en una fase crítica con la celebración, los próximos 14 y 15 de febrero en Estrasburgo, de la primera lectura en el pleno del Parlamento Europeo. (...)

Direktivförslaget om tjänster förblir oacceptabelt! Mobilisera för ett socialt Europa - mot social dumpning! För offentliga tjänster av hög kvalitet - livskvalitet! Visa vårt motstånd till Bolkesteindirektivet den 14 februari kl. 12.00 i Strasbourg!
EN - FR - DE - SP
Utkastet till tjänstedirektiv når nu en kritisk fas i och med första behandlingen av Europa¬parlamentets plenarförsamling den 14 och 15 februari 2006 i Strasbourg. I EP:s utskott för den inre marknaden och konsumentskydd - IMCO - röstade en majoritet för att bevara (...)

Please find attached a note on the text of draft services directive as amended by the IMCO Committee on 22 November.
In the note we ask affiliates in the run up to the plenary vote in Strasbourg on 15 February to:
continue to press for the general exclusion of SGI and SGEI from the directive (and not just SGI as agreed by IMCO) as proposed by Evelyne Gebhardt;
ensure that the exclusion of healthcare (agreed by IMCO) is maintained and that in addition, there is an explicit exclusion for (...)

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 (...)

Addressing journalists at an event organised by the European Trade Union Conference (ETUC), the Presidents of the Polish trade union Solidarność and of EAKl, the Estonian association of trade unions, said the IMCO vote carried with it the risk of social dumping throughout the EU and of bringing labour market standards down to the lowest level. Solidarność President Janusz Śniadek said his trade union was in favour of an internal market for services, but the draft (...)

EPSU affiliates CGIL and CISL (Italy) have addressed each Italian Member on the European Parliament’s Internal Market Committee (see letter attached). Our UK affiliate GMB has also sent a letter to the UK Labour members and substitutes of the Internal Market Committee (Phillip Whitehead, Arlene McCarthy, Gary Titley, Stephen Hughes (see attached).
Those letters are aimed at the crucial vote to be held on the directive on 22 November. They have called for public services to be excluded from (...)

(4 November 2005) EPSU has launched a major push to make Members of the European Parliament (EP) take note that a vote for the services directive is ‘anti-quality’ and a profound attack on the role of public services in the European Union. The powerful Internal Market Committee of the EP is due to vote on the Services Directive on 22 November. At stake is how public services are defined, managed and delivered. In a call to all affiliates, EPSU has highlighted that the EPP, ALDE, and UEN (...)

TUC Assessment, November 2005
Introduction
The Services Directive has proved one the more controversial proposals from the European Commission in recent years. Trade union and others have voiced their concerns that the Directive will undermine employment standards and threaten public services. The economic case for and against the Directive has featured much less in the public debate. In this assessment we look at the claims being made and how they stack up against the evidence. Our view is (...)

“GATS and the Services Directive will restrict local democracy. The services directive is a bad piece of legislation” said a French municipal councillor at the meeting of European municipalities which have declared themselves GATS free zone. The Mayor of Gent Frank Beke referred to the resolution to keep water out of GATS adopted by the majority of Flemish municipalities. The participants in the meeting linked GATS and the Services Directive.
EPSU Deputy General Secretary Jan (...)

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 (...)

(September 2005) At its last meeting the EPSU Executive Committee considered the reports from the two main rapporteurs, Anne Van Lancker EMPL and Evelyne Gebhardt IMCO, and assessed the need for amendments in light of EPSU’s two main objectives (exclusion of SGI/SGEI and exclusion of labour law/collective bargaining). It was agreed that, while EPSU remains opposed to the directive, we need to support the work of both rapporteurs in improving the Commission’s text, especially as regards (...)

EPSU welcomes vote on services directive in EP’s EMPL Committee but is worried about developments in the ECON Committee The European Parliament’s EMPL Committee voted on Anne Van Lancker’s Opinion on 12 July. The Committee agreed to:
exempt SGI (+ postal services, private security services, temporary employment agencies’ services, all financial services, all transport services, and audiovisual services): to check against exact wording of the exemption
exempt of labour (...)

An EPSU delegation led by Carola Fischbach-Pyttel met Commissioner McCreevy on 13 June to voice concerns on the draft services directive, and in particular about the impact of the directive on public services and workers’ rights. These two areas were confirmed by EPSU’s Executive on 7 June as being the two key concerns.
On the issue of public services, the Commissioner said that if these were excluded there would be little left of the directive, but he acknowledged that introducing (...)

Press Release- 16 June 2005
A EPSU delegation had a long discussion with the Luxembourg Presidency on the Services Directive on 15 June 2005. We raised concerns on the Directive and the negative effect on workers and public services such as energy and water services. We argued for the withdrawal of the Directive. Minister Jeannot Krecké called the Directive a piece of legislation, which was on a bad track. He indicated he agreed with EPSU it would have been better to withdraw it and (...)

As all the committee rapporters’ opinions are out now, the next stage is the amendment of these. followed by votes. You will find the opinions, the committee names and the already approved opinions at: http://www.europarl.eu.int/comparl/imco/services_directive/default_en.htm.
If you wish contact relevant MEPs from the committees, lists of national MEPs and the amendments can be requested from the secretariat (ethierbach@epsu.org).
6 June 2005: ECON amendments (Economic and (...)

The European Transport Workers Federation adopted a resolution on privatisation and deregulation, 26th & 27th May, 2005. The resolution which was supported by several joint affiliated unions, takes a very critical view of privatisation and deregulation, and strongly criticises the Services Directive. It further stressed the need for cooperation between the trade unions referring to the work EPSU and ETF have done together. (See also the action on working time, 2 June Luxembourg). The EPSU (...)

The OECD published a study which argues that all barriers to trade and competition should be abolished. Trade unions point out the false premises on which it is based. The study argues that removal of product market regulation and abolishing public ownership will add to economic growth and workers would gain additional income. It is similar to studies published by the European Commission (Copenhagen Economics) , and the same logic underpins the Services Directive and the negotiations for a (...)

European Commissioner Verheugen, vice-president of the EU Commission addressed a Verdi Conference, 20 May 2005. He stressed that the Commission will support changes to the current proposal for the Services Directive. Services of General Interest and health care should not come under the directive. It should not lead to wage and social dumping. The speech is available in German.

The Bolkestein Directive is part of the neo-liberal policies that citizens are rejecting with their no-vote in the recent referendums’ said Rudolf Hundstorfer, president of EPSU affiliated municipal services union (GdG) who opened the Conference. ‘Trade unions will continue to build Europe, and it has to be a social Europe’.
The conference focused on different aspects of the Services Directive such as the country of origin principle, freedom of establishment, the implications for public (...)

A comparative table with all the amendments from the rapporters Mrs Gebhardt and Mrs vanLancker (the rapporters of the two leading committees: Employment and Social Affairs and Internal Market and Consumer Protection).

Documents prepared for the ETUC meeting on the services directive on 31 May 2005
Comparing the mutual recognition principle and the country of origin principle With an assessment of the Gebhardt report for the Services Directive
Comparing the mutual recognition and country of origin principle

New report of Friends of the Earth reveals full scale WTO attack on health and environment.
The environmental organisation Friends of the Earth has published a report that provides a new insight in how WTO negotiations can be used to challenge existing rules. PSI and EPSU have worked with Friends of the Earth (and others) in the WTO and GATS campaigns. Friends of the Earth also has a critical position on the Services Directive and how this can be used to challenge environmental (...)

Draft opinion of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs for the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer protection on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on services in the internal market, Draftswoman: Anne Van Lancker
Draft opinion of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs for the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer protection on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of (...)

Position paper "The future of Services of General Interest in Europe" as adopted by the PES group on 13 April 2005

The unions organising workers in the energy, waste and water services considered and rejected the Services Directive at their Standing Committee meeting, 7 April 2005, Luxembourg. The unions point out the negative impact the Directive can have on quality of these essential public services and on workers. The Standing Committee adopted a specific position paper that details which services can be affected.
>Position (...)

Never has a draft Directive caused so much confusion! Following the European Council on 22 and 23 March many believe that the fight to “dump the services directive” may have been won..... However, this is not the case. The trade union demonstration in Brussels on 19 March was very successful. However, the Council did not demand that the Commission withdraws the Directive, only added its weight to the statements coming from Commissioner McCreevy and President Barroso in the (...)

CONFERENCE AU PARLEMENT EUROPEEN, 18 mars: Les enjeux politiques et les positionnements autour de la directive services, les thèmes de mobilisations dans la société civile, les attentes en direction du Parlement et les actions conjointes. co-organisée par le Groupe parlementaire GUE/NGL , ATTAC (Belgique, France, Allemagne, Autriche,) et la Fédération Démocratique Internationale des Femmes.
de 11h à 17h 30, Salle 1G3 (rue Wiertz, entrée Spinelli)
Programme:
I° Première partie: de 11h à 13h.
Les enjeux (...)

The European Socialist Party (PES) has published a study on the internal market and public services. The study sets out how the internal market influences public services. It recommends that all Services of general interest (those that are defined as such by public authorities and under democratic control) are to be excluded from the services directive.
Please find the summary attached. The full study is available upon request at (...)

14 February 2005

PSI, the global union federation for public service workers and sister federation of EPSU has taken up the fight against the WTO services liberalisation. The Services Directive has been labelled a European GATS, or GATS through the backdoor. Trade unions and many other organisations are fighting these policies at all levels.
Civil Society Calls for Mobilisation Against WTO Services Liberalization
Appel de la société civile contre l’AGCS
PRESS RELEASE
February 11, 2005
Contact: Mike (...)

’SERVICES’ DIRECTIVE (Gebhardt report)
FOR SERVICES OF HIGH QUALITY : ESSENTIAL FOR THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL MODEL
Tuesday, 15 February 2005 10h30-12h30 / 14h30-18h00,
Room P1 A002
10.30 Welcome: Martin SCHULZ, President of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament
10.40 Introduction: Evelyne GEBHARDT, European Parliament rapporteur on the Commission proposal for a Directive on Services in the Internal Market
10.50 I. Clarifying the legal and political consequences for all (...)

THE ETUC WELCOMES THE ANNOUNCED MOFIDICATION OF THE SERVICES DIRECTIVE
Brussels, 03/03/2005 Yesterday afternoon, the Commission President Barroso said: “As the Directive was written, it would not have been successful .... That is the reason why the Commission unanimously accepted to make some changes». ETUC General Secretary John Monks said : “It is a good decision by the new Commission to rework the directive and we look forward to working with them on (...)

EPSU members to contact Economic and Monetary Affairs (Committee MEPs)
The Employment and Social Affairs committee is due to meet to discuss its opinion on the White Paper on Services of General Interest. The draft document, tabled by Proinsias De Rossa (PES, Ireland), is encouraging from an EPSU viewpoint. The document “considers the proposed application of the Services Directive to economic SGIs makes the need for a framework directive more pressing; Considers that the full (...)

Adopted by the Congress on 15 June 2004
see also CONGRESS 2004 RESOLUTIONS section for other languages
Europe has to be more than an Internal Market
1. Europe’s trade unions and citizens cannot accept that the Internal Market becomes the sole driver of European integration. Cross-border trade can deliver growth, employment, and cohesion, but only if works for people, and not against them. Solidarity has to take precedence over competition and Europe has to be more than an economic (...)

All issues relating to the services directive are discussed in the EPSU ad-hoc Working Group on Services of General Interest

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