mr president i would like to thank our rapporteur who has being doing an excellent job for a number of years now
she said that the transposition of the directive has to be correct
i agree but it also has to be timely
in june twenty ten only about half the member states had implemented the directive more than half a year late
where are we now commissioner
today more than a year after the deadline have all twenty-seven member states implemented the directive
if not i think that is pathetic
the obstacles to implementation are not of a technical nature they are a lack of ambition and political will
the services directive was in itself a very meagre compromise and less than the bare minimum needed to bring about a true internal market
now member states are dragging their feet and implementing only reluctantly and late
that is short-sighted
at times of economic crisis we cannot afford to waste opportunities for growth and job creation because while the european union is navel-gazing and preoccupied with our internal borders the rest of the world moves on
it is not waiting for us
if we want to make eu twenty twenty a reality the member states will have to step up implementation of the services directive
