Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-02-14-Speech-2-192"
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"en.20060214.26.2-192"2
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"Mr President, one of the fundamental aims of the founding fathers of the European Economic Community was the creation of an internal market within which there would be free movement of people, goods, capital and services.
Fifty years have now gone by and this aim has not yet been achieved. In the services sector, any activity beyond the national market is still classed as the provision of services abroad, and not within a single entity, namely the European Union. The thousands of provisions in place and permits currently required are an obstacle to the development of the whole European services sector. I would remind the House that the services sector currently accounts for 70% of the European Union’s GDP.
The European Court of Justice has repeatedly ruled in favour of the right of service providers to benefit from their freedom as entrepreneurs and from the free movement of the services they provide in other Member States. There are many reliable indications that full implementation of the proposed directive will lead to the creation of 600 000 additional jobs across the European Union and will also reduce the existing barriers to the provision of services by more than 50%. In addition, there will be a reduction in the cost of the services covered by the directive, which will benefit consumers and firms making use of the services alike. European consumers, enterprises and governments will also benefit as a result of increased productivity, higher employment and higher wages.
This Parliamentary sitting will provide us with the opportunity to show what kind of Europeans we are. I am confident that we shall demonstrate courage, responsibility and wisdom. I advocate compromise, an approach that has long been adopted by this House. I cannot, however, accept a situation in which, despite the difficult compromise achieved and enshrined in the report by the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, certain responsible political groups are once again likely to succumb to scare-mongering, blackmail and sham reforms. After all, how else could one describe agreeing to further restrictions to the scope of the directive and doing away with the fundamental principle of the country of origin?
I also hope that the House will refuse to remove the provisions banning illegal barriers for workers posted abroad to provide services. These barriers do not affect citizens of specific countries they actually restrict the freedom and mobility of all Europeans, consumers and entrepreneurs.
I shall conclude with an appeal to Mr Barroso, the President of the European Commission, and to Commissioner McCreevy to continue their efforts to achieve a genuinely free market and economic development for Europe. That is also what the citizens of Europe expect from us."@en1
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