Jacques Chirac, the French president, has branded the proposal "unacceptable". Gerhard Schröder, the German chancellor, wants to prevent it "under all circumstances". Even Charlie McCreevy, the European Union internal market commissioner whose officials drafted the initiative, warns it will "simply not fly". On Saturday, some 50,000 protesters are due to march through Brussels to vent their fury at what they describe as the "Frankenstein directive".

The object of their anger is an ambitious draft EU law that seeks to throw open the Union's vast internal market to services providers. Launched in January last year, the services directive tries to address one of the biggest frustrations facing businesses in the EU: the fact that consultants, accountants, retailers, caterers, builders, plumbers and thousands of other service trades and professions remain shackled to their national markets.