Brussels, 19/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - Seven MEPs - Françoise Castex (France) and Göran Färm (Sweden) from the S&D group, Elisabeth Morin-Chartier (France) and Csaba Õry (Hungary) from the EPP group, Pascal Canfin (France) and Sven Giegold (Germany) from the Greens/EFA group and Jean-Luc Bennahmias (France) from the ALDE group - have suggested setting up a European Parliament 'Intergroup' (cross-party group) on services of general interest. In an open letter to their peers, they argue that the Lisbon Treaty coming into force calls for the setting up of an Intergroup on Public Services that is capable of leading joint reflection by the EP's political groups and the relevant committees on services of general interest and social services of general interest. The new treaty gives the EP regulatory powers in order to ensure the proper provision of public services in the EU. It set out principles and common governance frameworks for public services and turns people's access to public services into a fundamental right. People close to Castex explained that the idea was to see how pressure can be put on the European Commission to get it to unveil a draft directive on services of general interest. (M.B. trans fl)