MEPs accuse Berlin of services vote stitch-up

By Dana Spinant

Date: 16/02/06

Political leaders in the European Parliament are trading accusations and denials over the influence of the German government on the services directive, which was being voted on today (16 February).

The leaders of the two biggest groups, the centre-right EPP-ED and the Socialists (PES), denied that the compromise that they had agreed was drafted under pressure from Berlin.

But Parliament's smaller groups accused Germans Hans-Gert Pöttering, EPP-ED leader, and Martin Schulz, PES leader, of having imposed on Parliament a deal made by their national parties, who have been in a coalition in the German federal government since November.

"I am sure the compromise text comes from Berlin and it was signed by [German Chancellor] Angela Merkel and the leaders of the Social Democrats," said Graham Watson, leader of the Liberal Democrats (ALDE).

Daniel Cohn-Bendit, co-leader of the Greens group, said: "If every time we discuss a delicate directive Angela Merkel calls from Berlin and Schulz and Pöttering make a deal over breakfast, you don't need other political forces in the European Parliament."

Pöttering strongly denied the accusations. "A majority of our group, including French, Spanish and Italians, are in favour of the compromise that we found with the Socialists and they are not part of the grand coalition in Berlin," he said.

"I can understand that people think this, but there is no basis for it: only because the leaders of the two biggest parties in Parliament are Germans, which is by chance, and their parties are in coalition in Berlin, this does not mean that Parliament is controlled by the grand coalition."

Pöttering said he had not discussed the services directive with German government leaders. "I had no contact at all with any member of the German government. I did not talk to Angela Merkel or to [Economy Minister] Michael Glos about that," he added.

He said the compromise on the services directive defended "social market values", which were common to both the Socialists and to his German Christian Democrat Party.

Schulz said the claims were "nonsense". "It is absolutely not true, this is not the result of the German grand coalition, it is the result of negotiations between the largest groups in the Parliament," he said.

Schulz said that as a senior member of his party, it was natural for him to be in regular contact with the SPD, "on all sorts of issues". "This does not mean I will pick up the phone every time somebody proposes a paragraph in Brussels or Berlin," he added.

Final negotiations on the sticking points of the directive took place behind closed doors between representatives of the EPP-ED and the PES, with the smaller groups excluded from negotiations.

Pöttering said that "it was always clear that we needed a majority for this and that we would need to negotiate with the Socialists".

A Socialist spokesman explained that they had been "running out of time" and said the two largest groups found "common ground".

Watson said that while it was not possible to ignore the economic and political weight of Germany in the EU, "in my 11 years in this house I've never seen such pressure on the two biggest groups to compromise".

"I am sure this pressure comes from Berlin," he added.

Article reports the political leaders in the European Parliament were trading accusations and denials over the influence of the German government on the vote on Parliament's vote on the proposed Services Directive, 16 February 2006.

• Primary Source

BBC News, 16.2.06: EU services law approved by MEPs http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4717978.stm

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