13-06-2006

According to Richard Leese, President of EUROCITIES and Leader of Manchester City Council is "the debate about the single market in services and the European Social Model a crucial one for Europe’s cities. As the level of governance closest to citizens, cities and local authorities are responsible for the delivery of a wide range of services, and are best placed both to assess and to meet local needs in the most efficient and effective way."

Richard Leese was speaking at the conference "A dialogue on the European strategy for services'' taking place in Brussels on 8 and 9 June 2006. This conference was organised by the think thank Confrontations Europe. Other organisations taking part in the Conference included CEEP (European Confederation of Public Enterprises), CELSIG (European Liaison Committee on Services of General Interest), and EPSU (European Public Services Unions).

Richard Leese noted that cities provide a wide variety of services to both citizens and businesses. These include: public transport, healthcare, social services, environmental and waste management, water supply and housing. The provision of these services is essential for ensuring that the basic needs of European citizens are met, said Mr Leese. "Users expect that these services will be of high-quality, and that they will be both accessible and affordable."

The EUROCITIES President stated that it would be better if all services of general economic interest could be excluded from the scope of the proposed Services Directive. Leese: "If the Directive is taken forward in its current form it could significantly diminish the capacity of local authorities to ensure that all users have access to the high-quality, accessible and affordable services which they expect and deserve."

EUROCITIES insists that local governments should have "freedom of choice" in terms of the right to decide how services should be provided - based on an objective and transparent evaluation of their citizens' needs. EUROCITIES welcomes the recent political agreement in the Council of Ministers, which has accepted many of the amendments put forward by the European Parliament – notably the exclusion of social services and health services from the scope of the Directive. "This will mean that local authorities can continue to deliver effective services for health and social care to their local residents as previously" said Mr Leese. "We are also in favour of the move away from the ‘country of origin’ principle, which will mean that services can be regulated in a transparent and effective manner."