Brussels, 10/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - This week, the European Commission adopted a new strategy for the internal services market with a view to eliminating persistent trade barriers and establishing a more flexible regulatory environment. The divergence between national regulations and the heaviness of administrative costs fragments the European market substantially and prevents service providers from being as competitive on foreign markets as they are on their national markets, it states. The sector-specific approach adopted so far has not, it believes, been as successful as hoped, being hardly adapted to a sector in full growth and rapid development. It therefore proposes to adopt a more transversal approach and foresees a two-stage strategy. Over the next twelve months, it will speed up the implementation of a series of measures already programmed (in the areas of public procurement, telecommunications, copyright, financial services, etc.). It will also proceed to an "exhaustive analysis" of barriers to the free movement of services and of the impact such barriers will have on other sectors of the economy. On this basis, another series of initiatives will be envisaged in 2002, only providing rules for harmonisation when this is strictly necessary and establishing areas in which the principle of mutual recognition should be applied between Member States. It hopes to achieve an internal market that functions better by the end of 2002.