Another indication that labour forces are not giving up on this is that the European Trade Union Confederation has just launched a petition in favour of public services. Apart from the different definitions of what constitutes 'public service' in the Member States, the issue at stake here is how to make sure that public services remain of high quality and accessible to all. We must remain extremely vigilant in this connection.
8 December 2006, Porto (at the European Socialist Party Congress)
Personally, I would never have gone along with the adoption of the Services Directive, even in its amended form, without having a parallel framework law governing services of general interest (SGIs). Society thrives on both public and private services. There is no reason whatsoever to favour one over the other.
28 February 2007, Committee of the Regions