By Tobias Pflüger, Editorial column in: Schwäbisches Tagblatt, January 13, 2006

“Do you come from the region, where these strange question catalogues are drafted for Muslims?” This is the question one has to accept these days as deputy from Baden-Württemberg in Brussels. It refers to the conversation guideline for naturalisations, which - even if it presents itself as progressive- leaves nothing to be desired in terms of ideological snooping and bureaucratism. The pope or the bishop of Rottenburg would have found no mercy before the thus-instructed case managers of the immigration agency and would have to stay outside. Apparently, interior minister Heribert Rech (CDU) wanted to turn around on the high-way once more shortly before the regional elections (we remember…) to attract a bit more attention to himself. The work on the image of the region, one may consider successful; this way, one can get known in the world! Fortunately, there are still other people in Baden-Württemberg!

The regional government acts quite differently though, when it is a matter of jobs and social standards. Here the keyword is: elimination of bureaucracy or better: “outsourcing” of bureaucracy. If it goes following what is also the wish of the Baden-Württemberg regional government of CDU and FDP, the so-called service directive is supposed to be decided on February 14 in the EU Parliament in Strasbourg. If it goes through, in matters social, no stone is going to remain on the other. According to the “country of origin principle”, there will then hold, for many branches, only the social standards and work protection rules of the country, where the firm offering the services is officially registered. For the controls, there will be responsible the administrations of the “countries of origins”.

By way of the “Directive on the liberalisation of the services”, social dumping shall now be legalised and be extended towards many areas. Officially, there are concerned more than 60% of all job relationships. The consequences would be that more and more countries would transfer their headquarters into countries with lower wage and security standards, so as to be able to offer services in a cheaper way. Here a race for the lower bid would be set in motion that would undermine social standards conquered by social and by collective bargaining struggles. Before the referenda in France and in the Netherlands on the EU constitutional treaty in May and in June 2005, the French president Chirac and the former chancellor Schröder had acquiesced to withdrawing the directive, in that way, they wanted to achieve a “Yes” on the Constitutional Treaty. Even only a few months ago, the impression was produced that “Bolkestein” was off the table, or respectively, that “little remained of its content”.

However, the Bolkestein is, unfortunately, more alive than ever. Chirac's and Schröder'a agreement was immediately forgotten after the referenda in France and in the Netherlands. The legislative process proceeds undeterred, the vote in the European Parliament is on February 14. Now also the trade union chiefs have woken up and are calling, together with attac and others social organisations, for demonstrations against this social demolition directive.

This neoliberal botch-work that threatens all social standards, wages and salaries, should not be allowed to pass. Pressure must be exercised. Please all come on February 11th and 14th to the demonstrations in Strasbourg and elsewhere. Now it's time! I am looking forward to your visit in Strasbourg! Information on bus tickets on my web site: www.tobias-pflüger.de .

Translated by Carla Krüger, February 14, 2006