Mr President, faced with the process of liberalisation and deregulation currently underway in the European Union, moves for proposals to be put forward and action to be taken in the field of public services have built up. The contribution of these has led to the fact that Article 16 of the Treaty of Amsterdam recognises the essential role of services of general interest in ensuring social and territorial cohesion. The Commission’s proposals, however, contain the usual double language. On the one hand, there is reference to the interests of citizens, and therefore to the need for services of general interest, whilst on the other, several of the Commission’s directives accentuate liberalisation and deregulation of public services. The Langen report supports the spirit of the Commission’s communication of September 2000 on services of general interest in Europe. The Commission acknowledges that competition cannot meet all the requirements of citizens and that Member States have good reason to set up and implement services of general interest. At the same time, however, the Commission states that the progress of liberalisation is positive and relies on the content of the Lisbon meeting of the Council of Ministers to step up this process. The report has been improved by the debate and the amendments. It has made a real effort to adopt a balanced position between liberalisation and public services, it also stresses that services of general interest must ensure equal access, security of supply and continuity. It also proposes to assess the actual impact of liberalisation before embarking on any new phases, as my group suggested on many occasions. However, we still have a long way to go before we meet the required demands for services of general interest that are worthy of the name. The Langen report claims to relentlessly pursue liberalisation in sectors such as transport, electricity and gas and the postal services. Furthermore, it believes that it is necessary to privatise the water industry. I think that services of general interest, as their name suggests, must be subject to the rights and obligations that the general interest demands. In other words, this means providing transparency, continuity and equality. We need a new European model of services of general interest that meets citizens’ aspirations, and we must stop approaching this issue solely from the point of view of competition, as advocated in the report. That is why I do not think it is wise, and I think it could even be dangerous, to envisage a framework directive where we stick to this approach. Yes, I believe that we need safeguards. I am in favour of a framework directive on services of general interest on the condition that it maintains the social benefits that these provide in terms of employment, security and sustainable regional development. This directive should also ensure the respect of service obligations in terms of quality, equality, access for all users, and also by maintaining reserved areas allowing price offsetting on a geographical basis and on social grounds. I also think that all levels of the European Union must be involved. Our position will be related to whether or not a number of amendments are accepted.

Political group: GUE-NGL