Services directive

The Services Directive has turned Europe upside down in a way that few subjects have ever done before. The perceived threat has given rise to a heated debate which is no longer limited to the free provision of services. Henceforth, the issue at stake is the capacity of the European Union to provide economic and social solutions.

We are convinced that the free provision of services is both fair and necessary. But we are questioning the procedure. We want first of all harmonisation, without which liberalisation threatens to provoke a levelling out of national standards towards the lowest level.

We have therefore supported the approach which makes a distinction between access to a service activity (for which the rules of the country of origin can be applied) and the actual excercise of that activity (for which the rules of the destination country must prevail).

Furthermore, we call for legal certainty. We are delighted that the other political groups realised the need to amend the text, but the compromise proposed by the "great European coalition" of the socialists (PES) and the conservatives (EPP) blurs the legibility of the project as a whole.

Background information:

• Greens/EFA Position paper
• Text of the European Appeal
• Leaflet "Equal access, conditions and protection" (pdf)