Services liberalisation: David Cameron has one more reason to love Spain

We reported in today's press summary that Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and opposition leader Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba have agreed to adopt a common position ahead of the 27-28 June EU summit. The full document - a draft resolution due to be voted on by the Spanish parliament a couple of days before the summit - is now available online.

We found the following paragraph very interesting (the emphasis is ours). The Spanish parliament urges the government to,

"Favour progress on the completion of the internal market through the swift adoption of the pending legislative proposals under the Single Market Act I and II. Particular attention shall also be paid to the full and effective implementation of the Services Directive."

We couldn't agree more. As we stressed in a recent report, the services sector represents a huge untapped source of growth for the EU. A quick reminder of the figures we're talking about:

• Further liberalisation of services by fully implementing the existing Services Directive and implementing a new 'country of origin' principle would result in a permanent boost to EU-wide GDP of up to an extra €294 billion a year;

• If Spain, the UK and the other ten EU countries that signed a 'pro-growth letter' in February 2012 decided to press ahead among themselves and open up their services markets under the so-called 'enhanced cooperation' procedure, this would still drive EU-wide GDP up by some €148 billion a year.

¿Por qué no?

You know it's bad when even a former EU commissioner calls for a eurozone break-up

Former Dutch Internal Market Commissioner Frits Bolkesten is best known for having authored the liberalising EU Services Directive (in its original form before some member states and the EP watered it down significantly) but from today he has another claim to fame - becoming the first former European Commissioner to publicly back a breakup of the euro. Here is what he said to Dutch paper Algemeen Dagblad:

"The Netherlands has to exit the euro as quickly as possible... The monetary union has totally failed. The euro turned out to be a sleeping pill which made Europe doze off instead of thinking about our competitiveness... Let’s stop with the euro and instead strengthen the Single Market... We don't need the euro for that."

As an alternative, Bolkestein - who, it should be said, has long been critical of the current direction of the EU - proposed a currency union formed of economically strong countries, a so-called "Triple A euro". Bolkestein also had some tough words for the European Parliament, arguing that:

"It is not representative anymore for Dutch and European citizens. It lives out a federal fantasy which is no longer sustainable."

Bolkestein vs. Verhofstadt

Frits Bolkestein, the former Commissioner for the Internal Market and former leader of the Dutch liberals, isn't shying away from frank talk. Earlier this year he penned a dynamite article together with Roman Herzog, former German President and Luder Gerken, Director of German think-tank CEP, warning that the EU was at the risk of "completely breaking down" if it did not win back the support of its citizens.

Bolkestein has now taken aim at arch-federalist Guy Verhofstadt, the Belgian leader of the liberal group in the European Parliament. In name, the two veterans are fellow "liberals", on policy, however (at least on EU policy), they're poles apart.

In an interview with Belgian magazine Knack on Friday (not online), Bolkestein takes the gloves off, calling Verhofstadt’s proposals for EU taxes and EU bonds “ridiculous”, saying “if they do that, then we don’t know where it will end”.

He goes on to say

Verhofstadt should shut up. I have told Hans Van Baalen, who leads the Dutch liberals in the EP, that he needs to resist [Verhofstadt’s proposals]. They should bring that up in the group, they should not let that happen. They need to tell Verhofstadt: you speak in the name of who? Then he will have to acknowledge that he is only speaking for himself.

On Greece and the Euro, Bolkestein says:

How is it possible that Greece has become member of the Eurozone? Who has been sleeping? I have done my best to keep the Italians out. I have pressed [former Dutch Finance Minister] Gerrit Zalm, although that didn’t take much. In Italy he was known as Il Duro, as Il Perfido. Ah, it hasn’t gone the right way.

Interestingly, he said that one of his three main achievements in politics was that “I have given a different turn to opinions on the EU. I was actually the first eurosceptic politician.”

Tough talk. But he's raising the ever so pertinent question - who are the EU federalists (of which there are many in the European Parliament) actually talking for?

We're eagerly awaiting round 2.