EU Services Directive

[kevin wooldridge]

Does anyone know whether the recently approved European Union Services Directive applies to archaeology?

[Unitof1]

basically the freedom of information act, competitive tendering rules, deminimus funding rules, aren’t enough to equate government and local government practises across boundaries. Not supposed to help until 2009 and then some. I am not sure how it picks on archaeology although as you have seen my going solo thread you possibly have some ideas about where I think the problems are. I hope that it will make more sense than the EIA directives which I think mainly allowed central government to wipe out local controls and gave work to the big boys and nothing locally.

You should imagine me making wide sweeping gestures but I think the question started the dramatic music

Has anybody read it- it not been out long has it?

[kevin wooldridge]

I have read it (it was approved by the European Parliament on Wednesday), but uncertain whether it applies to archaeology, although archaeology isn't mentioned in the schedule as an exemption. But UK archaeology is organized on such a different basis to the rest of the EU, that if the directive applies to archaeology at all, it may only apply to it in the UK (where the majority of archaeological pracctice coild be classed as a service industry rather than a state-run concern).

This may mean that UK archaeology could become even more competitive, but the majority of Europe is pretty much a closed shop (at least to UK based companies).

I'd be interested whether other BAJRites have a few on this ahead of David's plan to spread BAJR to the rest of the world. Good thing/Bad thing you know what I mean.....