Lisbon provides legal base to promote public services
Issued : Tuesday 3 June, 2008
Statement by Proinsias De Rossa MEP
The Lisbon Treaty provides the legal base allowing the adoption of a law to safeguard public services, a longstanding objective of social NGOs and trade unions all across Europe, according to Labour Party MEP, Proinsias de Rossa. Mr De Rossa was speaking at a press conference with Jan Andersson, Swedish Social Democratic MEP and Chair of the European Parliament's Employment Committee today.
He said: "Indeed, the European Federation of Public Services Union, representing eight million public sector workers across Europe, has said that the activation of these new provisions should be the primary goal of the European Parliament elected next year.
"The EU Court has previously found that public services provided by or paid for by the State, such as education and social welfare are entirely excluded from EU rules, but that public services with a commercial element such as transport and electricity, can be subject to EU competition and state aid rules in certain circumstances. Consequently there has been a long-running campaign to agree EU legislation that clarifies and copper-fastens the protections for public services from competition and state aid rules. Lisbon now achieves this.
"Such a law has been a long-term aims of groups such as the European Public Health Alliance, the European Trade Union Council for Education, the European Anti-Poverty Alliance, the European Disability Federation, the European Women's Lobby, Mental Health Europa, the European Trade Union Confederation. and the Labour Party's political group in the European Parliament, the Socialist Group. An ETUC petition in support of this campaign has been signed by over 500,000 people across Europe. In fact, SF's political group in the EP, support the campaign.
"Art.14 of Lisbon now includes a new legal base, absent from the current treaties, that would permit the adoption of an EU law guaranteeing that public services can operate under conditions and have the funding necessary to achieve their missions. It provides that this conditions would be set down in law by MEPs and Ministers, not by the Commission or the Courts.
"Regrettably, others on the No side like Sinn Fein are entirely misrepresenting this provision, claiming that it actually threatens public services. This legal base is in fact a major achievement and one that should be welcomed by those concerned about promoting public services.
"Together with the new Public Services protocol, which sets out the framework for future EU initiatives in this area (i.e. universal access, users' rights, high quality, affordable and safe public services as well as the needs and preferences of users resulting from different geographical, social or cultural situations), the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which includes the right to access public services, social services, healthcare and medical treatment, the provisions stating that the EU cannot promote privatisation, that the Member States are entirely responsible for health and education, and that the EU cannot harmonise in these sectors, either by means of internal market rules or trade agreements, Lisbon can rightly be said to be a Public Services treaty."