Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-02-14-Speech-2-224"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20060214.26.2-224"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I agree with you and with Commissioner McCreevy that we now have a better directive in front of us, one which I hope will find a very broad majority at first reading; I say this not only as a result of having followed this debate, but as a result of the work of the last few weeks and months.
Whether by chance or thanks to the wisdom of the President, I am pleased to be able to speak as a fellow-countryman of the two previous speakers, Mr Karas and Mr Swoboda, not only because they are my fellow-countrymen, but because they have both played a considerable part in reaching this compromise in the last few weeks. I have already expressed my thanks to Mrs Gebhardt and I would like to thank both of them, and also of course Malcolm Harbour, and many others besides. I am sure you will be able to wear the Presidency tie in the next few weeks and months, Mr Harbour, because this directive will continue to be a good directive and will open the way for greater freedom to provide services.
It is and was one of the most controversial dossiers – perhaps the most controversial the European Parliament has dealt with, certainly one of the most substantial, when I look at the number of amendments that have been tabled. With
too, which was on a similar scale, the European Parliament did some excellent work and really opened the way for a sensible chemicals directive. The European Parliament can be proud of that. The important thing is that there should be a large majority the day after tomorrow, not only as a matter of principle, but because we all know, for example, that there is a letter from six Member States to the Commission, that there are also still some questions open in the Commission and that a large majority in Parliament will of course send the Commission and the Council a signal that they must go along with Parliament’s opinion on this.
In my view and in that of the presidency, this compromise text achieves a great deal, on the one hand delivering clear added value on the internal market in services and the freedom to provide services, while on the other saying a clear No to any risk of social and wage dumping. I personally do not believe that social security in Europe is an obstacle to European competition and strength, but that it is in fact a prerequisite for making Europe even more competitive.
This is also a directive of great symbolic meaning. Although Mrs Thyssen said that in the last few weeks and months this directive has been the symbol of a gulf between Europe and its institutions on the one side and the public on the other – which was a pity, but was unfortunately the case – it is also symbolic of the question of whether this Europe is capable of taking us forward in the direction of greater growth and employment. On the political side, we do not have so many occasions for providing growth and employment. The Services Directive is one such occasion.
Seen in that way, it is an important symbol in many respects, and we are on the right path. In the last few months I have had the impression that all the stakeholders, including the social partners, all the responsible stakeholders, that is, want this Services Directive to succeed, because we need it; and I would like to point out that the General Secretary of the European trade unions has said it is a good compromise that ought to be adopted; many have also said they would be demonstrating
a better directive today. If we want to fill the Lisbon Strategy with life, if we want to give people a signal that we are working for growth and employment, then we need this Services Directive.
Our presidency will be continuing to work hard in the weeks ahead. We will take on board Parliament’s views and position, we will be putting it up for discussion with the social partners on 9 March and in the Competition Council on 13 March, and it will be debated by the European Council on 23/24 March. As soon as Charlie McCreevy and the Commission send us the new, revised, proposal at the end of April, which will to a large extent be based on Parliament’s work, and make it public, we will do all we can to make as much progress on this dossier as possible. I promise you that, and I also promise the European Parliament that we take its position on this very seriously and we will follow it to a very large extent."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples