Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-12-19-Speech-4-032"
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"en.20021219.2.4-032"2
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"Mr President, in December 2000, the Nice Council called upon the Commission to consider, and I quote: ‘in close cooperation with the Member States, ways of ensuring greater predictability and increased legal certainty in the application of competition rules relating to services of general interest’.
In simpler terms, that meant that there had to be an end to the inconsistencies arising from unclear case law and the Commission’s never-ending attempts to use its competences in the field of competition to meddle with the definition and functioning of services of general interest.
Two years on, after a report from the Laeken Council and a call from the Barcelona Council for work to begin on a framework directive, we are still at more or less the same point, and the Commission’s only proposal is to put off resolution of the issue once again and draw up a Green Paper which will lead to a huge consultation process. This is extremely disappointing.
Although the solution is simple, clearly, the Member States still have to impose it. The Treaty must state clearly that, firstly, the Union recognises the freedom of administration of the States and their authorities, which includes their right to define and organise their public services, and, secondly, that the funding offsetting the additional costs
of successfully providing services of general interest is not to be deemed state aid.
Similarly, there must be an end to the inconsistent behaviour of the Commission at international level. The negotiations taking place in the WTO on a future General Agreement on Trade in Services – GATS – are currently in serious danger of going off course, drifting away from the liberalisation of private services and becoming an indirect debate on the shortcomings of public services. These discussions are being led by the Commission with a complete lack of transparency and without a clear democratic mandate for the parties to agree on after a broad public debate. Moreover, this situation is strangely reminiscent of what is happening in the field of agriculture as regards the application of the so-called Doha decisions, which have not been democratically ratified by anyone.
As regards all these points, Mr President, the Member States meeting at the Council must take things in hand without delay."@en1
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