Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-02-14-Speech-2-198"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20060214.26.2-198"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Mr President, back in 1957, the six founding Members of the European Economic Community made a commitment to creating a single market in which people, goods, capital and services could move freely. Almost 50 years on, only the freedom of movement of services has not yet been implemented.
In the form put before us today, the proposal for a directive on services, which forms part of the economic reform process launched by the Lisbon European Council with the aim of making Europe the most competitive and dynamic knowledge economy in the world by 2010, represents a major political step forward for the European Union. Over 18 months, the European Parliament has endeavoured to rewrite the Commission's original proposal to produce a significantly amended version. This new version is balanced, and aims to reconcile economic efficiency, in opening up the market in services, with social justice, in preserving the social standards that protect the EU's citizens. It also recognises the specific characteristics of certain services, in particular of cultural and audiovisual services. These services carry identity and value and, in this sense, cannot be regarded as consumer goods or market services like any other.
Furthermore, audiovisual services are also subject to a sectoral approach at Community level in the form of the 'television without frontiers' directive. This directive meets the aims set by the services directive, in that it guarantees the free provision of services whilst still allowing other objectives to be pursued, such as promoting European content, respecting cultural diversity and promoting pluralism of programming. Taking account of these principles, a large majority of the Committee on Culture and Education, followed by the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, came out in favour of inserting a cultural reservation clause and of excluding audiovisual services from the scope of the directive.
It is vital that the 'television without frontiers' directive, currently undergoing revisions, must remain the only reference text on the subject. It is equally vital, however, that a services directive must be adopted so that we can create a true internal market in services within the European Union.
I would like to end by congratulating Mrs Gebhardt on the quality of her report, and also Mr Harbour, Mrs Thyssen, Mr Toubon and Mr Karas on their hard work to produce a text for which we are happy to vote on Thursday."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples