Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-13-Speech-2-031"
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"en.20040113.2.2-031"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, first of all, I should naturally like to say a big ‘thank you’ to the rapporteur, Mr Herzog, for the quality of his work and for the opportunity he has given us to debate the issue of services of general interest today.
Even if it is not taking place within the framework of a legislative process, our debate today is fundamental, because it deals with the borderline between the world of the market, where competition has to prevail, and that other world where solidarity, equality and democracy – in short, social cohesion – must be paramount. It is fundamental, because our European model, the envy of the world, and the most elementary civil rights, chiefly enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights, are at stake.
Within the European population, among associations, trade unions and local authorities, there is grave concern, because the various experiences of liberalisation or privatisation – and I need only cite the British experience – have had rather adverse consequences. This is why we propose that the report, which is totally unacceptable in its present form, should undergo substantial amendment.
First of all, we propose a thorough public, pluralist and open evaluation of the development of services of general interest, perhaps through an observatory of services of general interest. In actual fact, we find it difficult to understand the opposition of the Right to this proposal if, as its adherents loudly and proudly proclaim, the effects of liberalisation have all been beneficial.
Because of the ambiguity of the criteria used to distinguish between economic and non-economic activities and to guarantee the subsidiarity that everyone is demanding, certain areas of activity – education, health care and social housing – will have to be explicitly excluded from the application of the competition rules. By the same token, there is a need to protect the right of municipalities and other local authorities to choose democratically the way in which they manage certain services – water and refuse disposal, for example – in accordance with local needs.
Lastly, the Member States and their territorial subdivisions and local authorities are, of course, responsible for services of general interest, hence the need for a framework directive which could truly establish a set of common principles for services of general interest. It is surely a matter of summoning up the will, at a given moment, to protect the citizenry of our countries. This is how one vision of Europe can be understood."@en1
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