Charlie McCreevy's time has come

Charlie McCreevy, your time has come. Your place in history awaits you. Fate has decreed this. Being sacked by Bertie Ahern wasn't the end of your political relevance. It was only the beginning and catapulted you onto a far bigger stage to boot.

It falls to you, standard bearer of free-market capitalism, debunker of the idiocies of socialism, tribune of straight talking, to save the European Union from its folly of inwardness, fear and... pansy-like pinkness. You can break the mould with an economically liberating EU Services Directive that will be seen in years to come as a definitive document in the history of European advancement.

Okay, I exaggerate. Your hands have been tied. Breaking the shackles imposed by the European Parliament in framing this document is going to be near impossible. The European Services Directive that you have been mandated by the parliament to recompose should have been your political legacy, but instead is only going to be a pale shadow of the document it could have been, constrained by the cowardice of a left-leaning bunch of loons. How depressing. How cruel. How unfair.

Okay, I exaggerate again. But not by much. And whatever the impact on McCreevy's political fortunes, the implications of an emasculated, competition limiting services directive are serious for the future prosperity of Europe and of Ireland. Opportunities are being missed, wilfully.

Protectionism is taking hold in Europe at a time when globalisation and market economics sweep through the lands of Asia and the sub-continent, with the vast potential to make Europe the poor and ageing international relation, exporting its capital for better returns elsewhere and failing to attract external investment.

Europe is scared of change just when it needs it most to deal with unemployment of over 20 million people. It is scared of the impact of the enlargement it itself sought and authorised. Instead of embracing the economic impact of the new labour brought by the ten enlargement states, the other 15, with the obvious exceptions of Ireland, Britain and Sweden (all of whom have benefited greatly despite the whinging of minorities within), have sought to throw up barriers to the cross-border provision of services.

It seems that little has been learnt from history, that the past successes of the EU have been based on enhanced trade. The four pillars of the EU – the free movement of goods, labour, capital and services – are to be undermined in a short-sighted campaign to allegedly protect what exists, as if what exists is the optimum when clearly it is not. The provision of services from one country to another will continue to be limited by allowing countries to cite a whole range of tendentious excuses to prevent businesses from other countries from competing without excessive regulatory impediments.

Protests that accession countries would export low legal standards for labour, health and safety, and environmental protection, in providing services are patronising and verging on xenophobic. (As if our own standards are so wonderful, or are enforced even when they exist.)

McCreevy is putting a brave face on things if an article that appeared in the Sunday Business Post and which bore his name – don't believe that he wrote it – is anything to go by. But while that piece focused on the possibilities still available to him it overlooked all the areas of service provision he is now prevented from helping: financial services, transport, telecoms, health, broadcasting, private security services, law and more. Consumers will not benefit from possible cheaper prices and, in the long term, the jobs of Irish and European workers will not be protected.

McCreevy is being realistic and can only work within the mandate that has been given to him, but the Internal Market commissioner must know that myopic thinking and political pandering is restricting the reform of the European economy.

Matt Cooper presents The Last Word on 100-102 Today FM, Monday to Friday, 5pm to 7pm