Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-11-15-Speech-3-012"
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"en.20061115.3.3-012"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, this is an important day for European citizens. I emphasise that because sometimes when we talk about concepts like the internal market we forget that we are engaging people at the heart of what goes on and in our political work here. This directive is about improving the standard of living of all citizens in the European Union and encouraging growth and dynamism in the economy. It is as fundamental as that.
What is so important about this directive – and sometimes we perhaps forget this during our big debates – is that it has actually been the result of painstaking work by the Commission, to whom I would like to pay tribute. It addresses the deep frustrations that businesses, particularly small enterprises, have faced in exercising their rights under the single market. That is what this directive is all about. It is extremely detailed in its provisions. It has directed at the Member States no less than 40 specific measures to take down barriers and 65 provisions to improve their procedures. Now it is up to the Member States. It is they that are going to have to deliver and we are going to be keeping an eye on them to make sure they do deliver.
I particularly want to single out the fact that for the first time we have a specific requirement on Member States to promote the single market in relation to their businesses, to encourage businesses to take advantage of the single market in the services sector and go out and trade crossborder. The single market is a shared project of all of us. It is not decided here, it is actually decided out there in the Member States. We can do our best and this directive is a major step forward in achieving that.
A notable thing about this directive is that it has been good politics. Why do I say that? Because it has been the product of a lot of constructive and detailed argument: long debates and votes in committee, because different sides want to reinforce their position, negotiation and compromise.
It has been good politics, and at the heart of it has been Mrs Gebhardt. She was generous enough to pay tribute to me and I want to say to her that it has been a pleasure to work with her. It has been a challenge, sometimes, because she has been a very determined leader in pushing this forward, but I think that what we have done together will be good for European citizens. However, it is not just we who worked on this, but all the members of our committee, and others as well. I particularly want to thank my own team on the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, many of whom will be speaking shortly, but we also worked very closely with our Liberal colleagues, particularly in the crucial vote that the Presidency was kind enough to mention earlier on. They will speak in more detail now.
I want to conclude with my thanks to the Federation of Small Businesses in the United Kingdom and say two things to the House today about the importance of this directive. The first one is that small and medium enterprises represent nearly 90% of the services sector. They are crucial to this proposal. Secondly, if every small business in Europe created one more job, we would have dealt with the problem of unemployment in the European Union."@en1
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