THE concentration of media attention on the issue of the European Union constitution has resulted in other far-reaching EU proposals going largely unnoticed.

In particular, the European Commission's Draft Directive on Services marks a major move in effect towards a deregulated market as far as many services are concerned, including health and social care. Under these provisions the country where a company is based will be responsible for regulating the operation of the company in any other EU country.

Aggrieved consumers would have to sue in a foreign country, under foreign legislation, in order to get redress for unsatisfactory services.

The Directive will also institutionalise the "gang master" system that led to the tragic deaths in Morecambe Bay in February, since it provides for non-EU nationals to be placed in any EU country to work on a contract under the Directive, provided that they are entitled to reside in the country where the company is based.

If this Directive comes into force, companies will relocate to those countries with minimum economic and social regulation, particularly some of the newer EU member states such as Poland.

Gang masters in such countries would recruit labour from elsewhere and send them to countries such as the UK, France or Germany to work, largely free from effective legal controls. The net result will be cheap, exploited labour and poor services.

ROGER BANNISTER, UNISON National Executive Council (Personal Capacity), Admin Road, Kirkby, Liverpool.