Horse-trading brings sides closer on divisive Services Directive

FEW bodies set out to design a horse and end up with a camel as effectively as the European Parliament.

This week's Strasbourg session offers a classic example with the first reading of the Services Directive.

It's the ideal kind of directive for the parliament as MEPs can divide easily on ideological lines, with the Socialists defending workers' status quo and the European People's Party defending employers.