The European Parliament blocks European Integration
With its considerable powers under the EU's existing treaties, the European Parliament is in a position to play a leading role in Europe's transformation into "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world". And being itself the product of Europe's integration process, it has a golden opportunity to contribute to this same process by facilitating the Commission's efforts to complete the EU's 'internal market'. It is clearly not doing this.
After twice rejecting Commission proposals for the liberalization of port services the Parliament has now produced a compromise that has rendered the so-called Bolkestein directive toothless. Both of these decisions were detrimental to the interests of Malta: a small and open economy dependent on trade and capable of undercutting its wealthier neighbours on the basis of cost. But they were also highly detrimental to the interests of Europe as a whole. As this week's Economist points out, the reason for much of the productivity gap with the United States is to be found in services.
Our own MEPs, particularly those elected on the Nationalist Party ticket, have yet to provide a satisfactory explanation as to why they sacrificed the general interest for that of the privileged few in the case of the port services directive. In the case of the services directive, all five supported the compromise text, which is something of a small mercy. Alternattiva, for their part, decided to go along with their rather more extreme continental cousins and opposed even this.
After twice rejecting Commission proposals for the liberalization of port services the Parliament has now produced a compromise that has rendered the so-called Bolkestein directive toothless. Both of these decisions were detrimental to the interests of Malta: a small and open economy dependent on trade and capable of undercutting its wealthier neighbours on the basis of cost. But they were also highly detrimental to the interests of Europe as a whole. As this week's Economist points out, the reason for much of the productivity gap with the United States is to be found in services.
Our own MEPs, particularly those elected on the Nationalist Party ticket, have yet to provide a satisfactory explanation as to why they sacrificed the general interest for that of the privileged few in the case of the port services directive. In the case of the services directive, all five supported the compromise text, which is something of a small mercy. Alternattiva, for their part, decided to go along with their rather more extreme continental cousins and opposed even this.
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