Who’s Afraid of the Polish Plumber? Wednesday, March 8, 2006 La Bibliothèque Solvay Click here for the summary of debates
“ There are too many protectionist views, the real problem is one of access to markets. It’s clear that there is no country of origin principle within the Treaty.” Evelyn Gebhardt
With the Services Directive on the latest Friends of Europe Café Crossfire’s agenda, there was always likely to be a divergence of views. By the end of the debate, it was not entirely clear if the “country of origin” principle was completely out of the revised directive or still embedded within the text. It was all a matter of definition. However, the Commission’s Martin Power, the European Parliament’s Evelyne Gebhardt and the ETUC’s Jozef Niemiec were all united in supporting the revised directive on its way to the Council. It obviously had something for everyone. One voice raised in protest was that of MEP Sarah Ludford, who felt that the Commission was missing an opportunity for growth. Power made a spirited defence of the directive, claiming that it cut a swathe through the red tape that was tying up European entrepreneurs. Friends of Europe’s Giles Merritt looked further ahead and voted for a path that led to more jobs. This was no time for protectionism, otherwise Europe’s future would be very bleak indeed.