European Federation of Public Sector Unions Warns of Bolkestein Compromise

national | eu | press release Friday February 10, 2006 01:34 by Ciarán McKenna - Attac Ireland

Press release from the European Federation of Public Sector Unions outlining some of the dangers inherent in a proposed Bolkestein Directive "compromise" between the Socialist Group in the EU Parliament and the European People's Party. The terms of which would appear to bring most public services, for instance utilities, social services and water provision, under the remit of the directive. Perhaps someone from Labour could comment on whether there is substance to their analysis?

European Federation of Public Service Unions

Press Communication –immediate release 9 February 2006

EPP-PES compromise on Services Directive runs

risk of selling off European Public services

“The European Parliament must get the legislative procedure right”

Key points
1. Most public services still exposed to the provisions of the Services Directive

2. The European Parliament is ignoring its own timetable for the definition of public service principles and allowing Services Directive to provide definition by default

3. EPP-PES text has not even been formally agreed

(9 February 2006) The prospective compromise text on the Services Directive, negotiated between the European People’s Party (EPP) and the Party of European Socialists (PES) on 8 February, runs the risk of defining the vast majority of Public Services in the EU just like any other economic activity. This would drastically reduce Member States’ rights to define, deliver, and fund public services in the general interest. “The compromise text does not explicitly exclude water, electricity, gas, education, culture, and social services from the directive”, stated EPSU General Secretary Carola Fischbach-Pyttel. She added that the compromise text; “had sufficient ambiguity to leave public services exposed to the full commercial force of the services directive”.

On the contradiction between the Services Directive text and the scheduled debate on Public Services (set to conclude in July 2006), the EPSU General Secretary said that; “all the EU talk about reconnecting with citizens is useless if the EP cannot even properly schedule political debate on an issue so fundamental as the definition of public service principles. Genuine reconnection can only come with joined-up politics”.

1. Most public services still exposed to the provisions of the Services directive

Water
The Water Sector, incredibly, has not been listed as one of the public utilities explicitly excluded.

Public Utilities (Gas, Waste, Electricity, Waste Water)

The compromise text states that Utilities are excluded from the country of origin principle, but not other provisions within the Directive, such as the right of establishment.

Social Services (childcare, elderly care, family planning, social housing and aspects of healthcare)

The compromise text states that “this directive does not affect services pursuing a social welfare objective”. The reference to the term ‘welfare’ drastically narrows the range of social services explicitly excluded from the scope of the directive.

Culture
The culture sectors of each member state have not been explicitly excluded from the provisions.

2. The European Parliament is ignoring its own timetable for the definition of public service principles and allowing Services Directive to provide definition by default

The potentially dire consequences for Public Services are rendered more astonishing, as the European Parliament has set out a specific timetable to define public service principles by summer 2006. The report on the White Paper on Services of General Interest is due to go to plenary vote in July, under the stewardship of German PES MEP Bernhard Rapkay. Ms Fischbach-Pyttel stated that “It is ridiculous that the two biggest groups in the EP can allow a situation to arise where they can meticulously outline the timetable for the definition of public service principles and then allow that debate to be steamrolled by this ill-conceived legislation”.

3. EPP-PES text has not even been formally agreed

The idea that the text is an ‘agreement’ is misleading according to EPSU. The EPP has refused to endorse the compromise until 14 February. This renders inaccurate reports in the European press that a compromise ‘agreement’ has been reached. Instead the reports seem like the latest in a series of postures taken by the Conservative group.

The EPSU will be pursing these issues in advance of the scheduled vote on 16 February. EPSU will also be part of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) demonstration in Strasbourg on 14 February, at which 25,000 workers are expected to participate.

For further information please contact Brian Synnott, + 32 2 2501080, +32 474 98 96 75 or send an email to bsynnott@epsu.org

EPSU is the European Federation of Public Service Unions. It is the largest federation of the ETUC. 8 million public service workers and their 217 trade unions are members. We organise workers in health and social services, local and national administration, energy, water, waste.