The proposal for a new European Union services directive, issued when Frits Bolkestein was single market commissioner, is under attack from all sides. Dubbed the "Frankenstein directive", it has been billed "unacceptable" by Jacques Chirac, the French president, and is playing a big role in the French referendum on the EU's constitutional treaty. Last month's European summit called for it to be revised "to safeguard the European social model".

All this excitement is difficult to understand. Europe's single market was supposed to come into effect on January 1 1993, providing freedom of movement in four areas - goods, capital, people and services. The single market for services does not yet work because numerous sectors still hide behind de facto national barriers. Companies and individuals operating in these sectors are understandably upset that their turf is threatened.