Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-26-Speech-2-011"
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Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, services of general interest are at the very heart of our European social model. They cover a vast gamut of activities, ranging from the major network services – the energy, telecommunications, transport and postal services – to health and social services and water and waste-management services.
The Commission has been very active in this area along with this House and the Council, and I think I can say that we have made good progress in several areas. We used the Altmark package to simplify and clarify the rules on state aid relating to services of general interest. We are currently checking the application of the new rules on public procurement which came into force in January. We have engaged in extremely broad consultations on the issue of public-private partnerships, and we have announced new initiatives for 2007. We have arrived at an agreement on public transport services. We have adopted a Communication on social services, and we are now initiating consultations on health services. We have launched a broad consultation process on the energy sector, and we shall be presenting other proposals – including, let me stress, legislative proposals, not just communications. In fact, at the present time we are revising the regulatory framework that applies to electronic communications, and we shall be proposing a new directive on postal services before the end of the year.
These recent advances show that the European Union is displaying initiative and ambition with regard to services of general interest. They also illustrate the important role played by Parliament and the Council. After the adoption of the Rapkay report, which we shall analyse carefully, the Commission is firmly resolved to go further. We shall present a communication on this subject before the end of the year.
Ladies and gentlemen, the main message I picked up from your report was a twofold call to action: firstly for the creation of greater legal certainty as regards the EU rules governing services of general interest, and secondly for recognition of the wide diversity of sectors and situations throughout Europe. I believe the time has come for us to consolidate the regulatory framework that applies to services of general interest in the European Union. That is what our fellow citizens expect. The Commission will take full account of your report when it examines this issue between now and the end of this year.
What we call network services, namely transport, energy, telecommunications and postal services, account for about 7% of our collective GDP and 5% of total employment in the European Union. They therefore constitute an essential element of the everyday lives of all European citizens and of Europe’s businesses too. The success of the European growth and employment strategy – the Lisbon Strategy – which is vital to our prosperity, also depends on the quality and efficiency of these services.
Since the Commission published its White Paper on services of general interest, an intense debate has ensued on the role that the European Union might play with regard to these services. I am pleased that this debate is taking place. I wish to thank Mr Rapkay, the rapporteur, and his colleagues in the committees for having moved the debate forward with this excellent report.
The reality of services of general interest is complex. Moreover, it is changing all the time. Technical progress, new expectations on the part of society and consumers, financial pressures and the modernisation of public administration have all profoundly transformed the way in which these services are provided. In these times of rapid economic and technological change, services of general interest need a useful and effective legal framework that enables providers of these services to achieve their prescribed aims and to keep adapting to a changing environment.
The Commission is willing to cooperate in the creation of such a legal framework on the basis of four essential principles. Firstly, the framework for services of general interest provided nationally, regionally and locally must remain the responsibility of Member States so that we can uphold the important principle of subsidiarity. There is quite simply no alternative. I am firmly convinced that the European Union must respect the diversity of conditions and practices that exists among the Member States. This diversity reflects different histories and cultures of state intervention. I subscribe to the view expressed in your report that it would be absolutely inappropriate to adopt uniform definitions at the Community level. Member States must remain free to define their services of general interest on the basis of their varied needs, structures and traditions.
The second principle is this: the promotion and protection of universally accessible services of general interest that represent good value for money are compatible with open competitive markets. For evidence, we need only observe sectors such as telecommunications or air transport, where public-service activities have been successfully entrusted to private operators while the interests of consumers have been fully safeguarded. It should, however, be emphasised that, in the event of an irreconcilable conflict between the rules of the internal market or of competition and a service of general interest, the service of general interest must take precedence. This is what the Treaty prescribes and what the Court has confirmed. The Commission is willing to provide any advice or information that may be necessary in this matter.
The third principle is that any EU framework applicable to services of general interest must be responsive to divergences and conducive to modernisation. It must be based on the aims of high quality, good value for money and universal access. It is, in fact, a matter of meeting the expectations of people and businesses but also of preventing social and territorial exclusion.
Moving on to the fourth principle, legal certainty is essential, as I have said, not only for consumers and operators but also for the public authorities. It is incumbent on the public authorities at every level to define clearly the rules that apply to services of general interest. At the European level, given the diversity of situations and sectors, it remains to be established whether a single legislative instrument or a sector-by-sector approach would be the better means to the desired end. I noted that you asked this question in your report.
The four principles I have just outlined serve as a guide for Community action. Such action is essentially pragmatic. We are in the process of formulating sectoral policies at the level of the European Union for those sectors where the need for such a policy is clearly felt and where it can bring real additional benefits. Problems affecting more than one sector are tackled as they arise."@en1
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