Kevin Rowan column

Feb 13 2006 By Kevin Rowan, The Journal

The Irish Ferries dispute, probably understandably, attracted little attention in the North-East.

Essentially there was a mass protest and industrial action against the intention of that particular company to replace over 500 sea-based workers with workers from eastern Europe, a practice that is known as `social dumping'.

The advantage to the company would be that these new workers would not be protected by Irish labour law.

This `flag of convenience' approach is one of the underlying principles of the Services Directive proposed by the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Frits Bolkestein, in 2004.

The main problem with the directive is its absolute commitment to what is known as the `country of origin' principle.

This would mean that any service provider would have no requirement to adhere to the regulatory frameworks and standards of the country in which the service is being delivered. The original draft of the directive implies that this would apply to minimum wage regulations, health and safety standards, employment rights as well as to any environmental or social conditions.

Bolkestein argues that these would be `anti-competitive barriers' put up by member states to protect their national institutions.

What the original directive would actually deliver is a race to the lowest standards in Europe. Service providers would be encouraged to establish their business in the state with the lowest regulatory provisions as their country of origin, thus driving down minimum standards throughout the European Union.

What the EU should be about, and partly what it was designed for, is raising standards in all member states. This is the key social aspect of the Union. Opening markets for collaboration and expansion in trade has potential benefits for any economy. But there are obvious risks, too.

Trade has to have a purpose that is bigger and better than maximising profit for a handful of trans-national corporations. Markets that exist to lower standards inevitably lead to a degradation of quality of life.

The European Parliament will debate the Services Directive this week, including considering amendments that will exclude labour law, among other things, from its scope, ensuring that the country of origin principle does not become a facility for social dumping within the EU. Will all of our MEPs vote to protect minimum standards in the UK?

Kevin Rowan is regional secretary, Northern TUC