Tobias Pflüger (MEP), Explanation of vote, Strasbourg, the 16th of February, 2006

It remains our goal to defeat the service directive. Today there was passed, 395 to 215 votes, a more than dirty “compromise” by social-democrats and conservatives in the European Parliament. To all the bad concessions that the social democrats had already made to the conservatives in advance, more was added just briefly before the end. For instance, “social policy” and “consumer protection” were not taken out of the area of application of the directive, and this after the services of “general economic interests” had earlier on already been subjected to the freedom of services. This is completely unacceptable.

The text passed, as a result, is not only a free ride for social dumping in Europe, but also a slap in the face of the trade unionists, the social initiatives, and all those, who had taken to the streets in the last days, weeks, and months against the Bolkestein directive. Particularly humiliating is the attitude of the German social democrats, who - unlike their French colleagues - stood truthfully by the Bolkestein directive and delivered their own clientele to the block.

The struggle against the directive for social dumping in Europe, however, is just beginning. In the next months, we must reinforce the mobilization against the intentions of the Commission, the governments, and the anti-social grand coalition in Europe.

Translated by Carla Krüger, February 19, 2006