EP working party on Services Directive
A working party on the Services Directive has been set up at the European Parliament. This news was announced on 1 February at a meeting of the EP Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, the EP Press Services report. The draft directive is regarded as one of the most important issues coming up before MEPs in the European Parliament’s current term of office.
The working party is intended to make it easier for MEPs and political groups to cooperate and exchange information. In the words of Evelyne GEBHARDT (PES, DE) of the Internal Market Committee, who is drafting Parliament’s report on the directive, the working party "should be open to all members of the lead committee and all draftsmen of the committees contributing opinions". For reasons of transparency in what is a highly politicised piece of legislation, "meetings will be held in public and the Council and Commission will also be invited".
Mrs Gebhardt says the proceedings of the working party should "accompany" the drafting of her parliamentary report, which will focus on the main aspects of the directive. The thorniest issues, such as the scope of the directive (for example the exclusion of services of general interest) and the country of origin principle (a key point of the directive but one which is questioned by the rapporteur), will be addressed by the lead committee, while the working party will look into less problematic issues. The working party is expected to meet four or five times in the period up to April. The Internal Market Committee’s report will be put to the vote in committee in April and in plenary in June.
MARKT Director General admits Directive was ’rushed’
There was not enough reflection prior to tabling the EU’s draft services directive, the top official in the European Commission’s internal market department has admitted. “We are paying for this mistake now”, Director General Alexander Schaub told the European Parliament’s internal market and consumer protection committee on February 2.
Answering a question from British Socialist member of the European Parliament (MEP) Arlene McCarthy, Mr Schaub stated that “The Commission understands there are serious difficulties: we are prepared to discuss these, modify and take things out. Part of the problem was that it was anticipated ... we won’t repeat such a mistake”, he said. He added that the debate on the proposal “needs to become less emotional”.
Strong criticism from French government
In the meanwhile, the French government expressed serious concerns about the directive in a recent meeting of the government cabinet. In the words of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the directive is "unacceptable, we will take every measure to oppose this directive. That is the message the president of the Republic gave this morning at the cabinet meeting", Le Monde reports.
