Unions rally support against EU Services Directive

UNION members from across the EU converged on Strasbourg yesterday to protest at the Services Directive, which proposes to liberalise the European services market.

With up to 50,000 protesting in Strasbourg, members of the IMPACT trade union gathered outside the Dáil to urge Irish MEPs to back a watered-down version of the directive agreed between the two main parliamentary political groups the European Peoples' Party and the Party of European Socialists.

According to the European Commission, liberalising the EU services market will create 600,000 jobs and boost economic growth.