Text tabled : A7-0239/2011

  Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL), in writing. − (PT) The vote in plenary on this report has devalued the importance of the majority of public services, including social services of general interest (SSGIs), without which there is no social Europe or even social inclusion.

We therefore call for the policies of liberalisation to be changed to include a genuine policy of social progress, thus ensuring universal access to high-quality public services that pay particular attention to disadvantaged groups, and universal access for everyone regardless of their financial circumstances.

Therefore, although we agree with the majority of the proposals tabled by the rapporteur, we have not been able to vote in favour, since elements relating to the privatisation and liberalisation of SSGIs have been introduced into the report, which we reject.

This means that the final resolution includes some contradictions, despite being generally progressive. However, it lacks the idea that we argue is central to the issue of public services – public ownership and public administration, with the democratic participation of the users of these public services – in areas essential to public welfare, specifically health, education, communication, transport, energy, and so on.