Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-03-12-Speech-1-074"
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"en.20070312.17.1-074"2
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".
Madam President, I want to begin by thanking the rapporteur, Mr Ferreira, for the constructive work he has done and for having succeeded in obtaining a broad majority in the committee for his proposal. Social services of general interest were excluded from the Services Directive. There was a reason for this. They are of a quite special character that differs from that of commercial services and were excluded for that reason. Their special character means that they are often publicly funded, either in whole or in part.
They are not aimed at groups, primarily on an ability-to-pay basis. Instead, certain services – for example, child care in my own country, Sweden – are aimed at everyone. A number of such services are aimed at people with special needs, for example elderly people with special needs in terms of care or disabled people with their own special needs. The aim is that people should be treated as equally as possible.
How they are organised differs from country to country in Europe. Often, they are organised locally. They are managed democratically, often in proximity to the people, and are also often run as part of the public sector by public employees. However, the arrangements may also be cooperative and sometimes involve private companies as well. The organisations themselves take decisions locally on how they want the activity to be run.
Social services are important for Europe. They are important for quite a few reasons and, of course, are mainly important to all those who use public services. They contribute to equality, including gender equality. As Mr Rapkay said, social services are important for the economy – without social services in the various parts of Europe, the rest of the economy would not function – and they are especially important for employment, since large numbers of people, especially women, are employed within social services.
When it comes to the importance of these issues for Europe, we can debate what we need to do at European level. I share Mr Rapkay’s view and the view of the majority in my group that we need some form of sector-specific directive, precisely in order to be able to highlight the distinctive character of these services and to distinguish them from commercial services. We need such a directive not for the purpose of withdrawing social services from the local level or of bringing about a situation that is in conflict with the principle of subsidiarity, but with a view to protecting such services on the basis of the activities that they at present engage in and that reflect the diversity of our Member States."@en1
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