Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-11-11-Speech-3-150"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20091111.17.3-150"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Madam President, it is a privilege to be able to make my first intervention in the Chamber since being elected as chairman of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection and to present this question on behalf of all the political groups on the committee as well as the coordinators. I am very pleased that many new members of the committee are here tonight to support me and to contribute to the debate.
I do not think that this House needs any reminding about the importance of the Services Directive. In unleashing the power of the single market in a sector that comprises probably 70% of the European economy, the jobs that it will create, and the dynamic effect of that, are sorely needed at the moment in the stagnant conditions that we face.
This is a very wide-ranging directive. It has many new features. It is complicated in many areas. It has needed a lot of attention. The transposition of this, in a consistent and full way, is absolutely vital for its effective operation. At the very core of this directive is the fact that Member States will remove barriers to business and, in particular, measures in their own national legislation that discriminate against service companies who want to do business. Believe me, there are literally hundreds of legislative proposals or pieces of legislation in different countries that have had to be amended as a result of this proposal. Unless all colleagues move together to do this, and all countries move together to do this, that discrimination is going to remain. This has to be done consistently. Otherwise, those barriers will remain.
That is why I want first of all to pay tribute particularly to the Commission for the leading role it has played in managing and coordinating the whole process among Member States of carrying out and transposing this legislation. I also want to thank the Council and, indeed, successive Councils, since this proposal was agreed back in 2006, who have led the process which we have actually seen in summits calling for the consistent transposition of this directive.
I want to say particularly to Cecilia Malmström, the Minister here tonight, how impressed the committee was with the work that Sweden was doing when we went to visit Sweden on a mission back in September. I think that they have clearly set an example to many other people and, in particular, in the meticulous way in which they are ensuring that public authorities at all levels in Sweden understand their obligations under European law in order to be able to authorise service companies coming from other places within the European Union.
Our question tonight focuses, in particular, on what we regard as the most important elements to be put in place as soon as possible. Member States have been required to go through the screening process of their legislation to look, as I say, for those discriminatory elements. But the transposition on 28 December is just the start of the process of removing obstacles, because every country is now going to come up with a list of proposals which discriminate against other countries and which, they believe, they can justify in the public interest. That mutual evaluation process – which is an entirely new one – requires other Member State authorities to look at each other, at each other’s discriminatory proposals. That is going to be a vital part that starts, and we are following that with great interest. We would like to hear tonight how the Commission is proposing to approach that process. We would like to know from the Council what support they are giving to that. We would also like an assurance that this is not going to be a process done behind closed doors, because consumers and businesses and other interest groups will want to know how that process is being carried out. We want to see that list. We want to see the list of regulations and internal statutes that Member States want to retain.
Second is information and access to procedures through electronic technology. Setting up the points of single contact for business is a ground-breaking proposal, again, in any European directive. Member States are required to make that information and access to the procedures necessary for businesses to complete to allow them to trade through those systems. It is vital that we have full and complete systems set up.
So that is what our question is here tonight. We look forward to Mrs Ferrero-Waldner – perhaps in a field that is not so familiar to her – giving us some comprehensive answers. We know you will give our best wishes to Charlie McCreevy from everybody.
I think it is important to understand, however, the perspective of my committee. For us, this is also the start of a process over the next five years of monitoring and sustaining political interest and pressure on all the Member States to deliver this directive. I have to say to Cecilia Malmström that it was disappointing, to say the least, to see in the report that a Competitiveness Council discussed back in September a note from the Commission that, it would appear, in some Member States the political commitment to full and timely implementation has unfortunately not been translated into appropriate action. That is not good enough. We want the benefits and we want them now."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples