Saturday, November 26, 2005

MERCHANDISATION OF SERVICES StopBolkestein: "At the instigation of the former European Commissioner Frits Bolkenstein (a Dutch liberal), a draft directive (European law) on the free circulation of services within the European Union is currently under discussion. If adopted, this European directive would result in the merchandisation of all services within the Union. This would mean that essential sectors such as culture, education, health care and all services relating to national social welfare systems could be exposed to the same forms of economic competition as commercial goods. This merchandisation would inevitably lead to the deterioration of pension systems, social welfare and health care cover in favour of private insurance. It would also entail the deregulation of our education systems and the end of any kind of cultural exception. Furthermore, the application of this directive would call into question workers' rights as established by the national laws of the countries in the Union. Last Tuesday, the European parliament's internal market committee (IMCO) adopted the hotly disputed services directive, law which aimed at liberalising the services sector. Next Monday, on November 28th, the Competitiveness Council has the draft directive on the agenda. After wrong signal sent yesterday by MP's, the worst is to be feared." 2:41:40 PM

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