A Final(?) Letter To Valery Giscard d'Estaing
Debate Between Patrick Martin & John Martin
Thwarted By A Surge Of Democracy
Bringing Europe Closer Together?
France pulps copies of EU treaty
French pressure dilutes services directive
The French President, Jacques Chirac, is giving the impression that the Bolkestein Directive has been finally killed off. It is unclear what was agreed by European leaders in March but, to quote Mark Twain, it looks like news of the Directive’s demise is "premature and greatly exaggerated".
Here are the views of other European leaders after the 'burial' of the Directive:
Tony Blair: "We have conceded nothing on the liberalisation of services. The battle is ongoing and it is a debate in which we have allies".
Mikalas Dzurinda (Prime Minister of Slovakia): "I am on the side of those who support liberalisation and not protectionism".
Martin Jahn (Vice Premier of the Czech Republic): "Bolkestein is a principle for us. We joined the Union for economic reasons to be part of a large liberalised market".
Marek Belka (Prime Minister of Poland): "The concept of the country of origin is a pillar for us and without it, the Directive is meaningless".
It is very clear that the European Union has moved away from the Social/Christian democratic vision of its founders. With the accession of the ten new countries following the Nice Treaty, Britain has found new allies for its Free Market, pro-America politics.
A couple of years ago the American Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, made a distinction between "old Europe" and "new Europe" in relation to the war in Iraq. There is no doubt that the distinction is a real one and doesn’t just apply to foreign policy.
The Constitutional Referendum in France has forced its voters to think about these issues. There are many who fear that Europe as currently constituted is a threat to the French way of life. The view has been expressed that Europe should revert to the smal group of countries that embarked on the project (i.e. Germany, France and the Benelux countries).
If the Constitution is rejected in France, Ireland will have to make a choice. The options of Boston or Berlin will no longer be a academic debate.