Brussels, 14/11/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, the Competitiveness Council adopted conclusions on the state of the Internal Market for Services. On the basis of the report presented in the summer by the Commission (see EUROPE of 1 August, p.4), the Council acknowledges that "ten years after the internal market should have been completed, there is still a large amount of work to be done before the Internal Market for Services can become a reality", while the services sector accounts for 70% of GDP and jobs in the EU. The Council notes examples of obstacles given in the Commission report such as "administrative burdens at national, regional and local levels affecting establishment, barriers to the cross-border posting of workers, restrictions on the use of commercial communications and marketing strategies, authorisation and registration requirements for cross-border services, the duplication of requirements already fulfilled in the member State of establishment, and many others". The Council calls on the Member States and the Commission to implement a series of measures before 31 December 2003. It mainly invites Member States to "ensure that they comply fully and rapidly with judgements of the European Court of Justice concerning the free movement of services and freedom of establishment". It calls on the Commission "in those cases where barriers cannot be removed by non-legislative means or by application of the principle of mutual recognition, to propose, where appropriate, harmonisation of the relevant legislation, if possible by means of a single legislative instrument". In order to ensure assessment of progress and of measures needed, the Council hopes that the Commission will develop further its economic analysis "with an emphasis on the potential for economic growth, job creation and benefits for consumers" and "develop a system for monitoring progress". It also calls on the "Commission and Member States to improve the coverage and quality of statistics on services". The Council undertakes to include a section devoted to progress in integration of the Internal Market for Services in the reports presented to the Spring European Council.