EU: Ireland's European commissioner Charlie McCreevy has strongly defended his revised services directive which removes the controversial "country of origin" principle. He told the European Parliament yesterday that the text as originally proposed could never have been passed into law, regardless of its merits.
Pointing out that "broad consensus" was essential for such measures to be adopted by the European Union, he said the new text amounted to "a good proposal" and that the day when it was finally adopted would be "a good day for Europe".
Stressing that compromise had been unavoidable, the commissioner said there was no point in "trumpeting" the merits of the original directive without modifying it, because it would just have remained "a proposal on the shelf".
He told The Irish Times afterwards: "My job, as I see it, from having inherited this directive, is to try to get a directive through that has some economic impact and, from early on in my stewardship out here, I kept speaking about 'a' directive, not 'the' directive." Asked if he believed the revised directive would help the EU to meet the challenges of globalisation and international competition, he said it would have "a significant economic impact", particularly in view of the fact that up to 70 per cent of the EU's economic activity was in services.
He pointed out that the legislative process had still not been completed: "In the nature of things and the way business is done here, there will be now further discussions with the Council of Ministers, there will be negotiations with the European Parliament, I am sure there is still going to be a certain amount of lobbying and work to be done." In general terms, even his opponents agreed that Mr McCreevy had stood by his undertaking to adhere to the compromise version of the directive recommended by the parliament in February last. One of his sharpest critics, Labour MEP for Dublin Proinsias De Rossa, said the commissioner had done a "U-turn" by accepting "the fundamental amendments forced through by the Socialist Group in February".
"It is good news for European workers and consumers that Commissioner McCreevy and the commission in general have listened to the European Parliament and recognised that we were absolutely right in completely removing the notorious 'country of origin' principle and the risk of a race to the bottom," Mr De Rossa said.
But Sinn Féin MEP Bairbre de Brún said the endorsement of their proposals by Mr McCreevy "should give the Socialist Group pause for thought". She said the revised commission proposal would still leave workers across Europe in competition with each other in a "race to the bottom". However, Fianna Fáil MEP for Dublin Eoin Ryan welcomed the "modified" text, adding that it had "further guaranteed that the progress made for workers' pay and conditions over the years will not be undermined in any way". The new text "added a significant level of clarity to the directive which wasn't evident in the original draft".
While also welcoming the amended directive, Fine Gael MEP Simon Coveney called on the former finance minister to be "proactive" in promoting the new text. "When people or companies come to provide services in Ireland they will have to adhere to Irish labour laws. The fact that this is safeguarded will, I believe, give reassurance to people who had worries about the implications of the directive," he added.
In his remarks to the parliament, Mr McCreevy praised the role of the MEPs in discussions on the proposal. "The parliament has clearly shown the way," he said. Once it was adopted, he claimed the directive would have a "galvanising" effect on the economy of Europe.
He said the commission had honoured its commitment to respect the consensus reached in the parliament. "The decision to remove all interaction with labour law has been a major help in improving the atmosphere of this debate. It removes the perception - which was in any case mistaken - that there is a threat to labour standards. Articles 24 and 25 have been removed, and the commission has prepared a communication on the posting of workers to address the issues covered by these articles."
At a news conference later, he said the new text was "a fair reflection of the parliament's vote". The commission had worked to secure broad consensus on a "substantial" directive.