Brussels, 15/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - The Parliamentary committee on the internal market did not hold an in-depth discussion on 14 September on the proposed directive on services in the internal market, but a practical one. The rapporteur, German Social Democrat Evelyne Gebhardt, said that "the best thing would be to stick" to the timetable planned for the first reading of the European Parliament, and hoped to keep the date of 4/5 October for the vote within the Parliamentary committee, and that of 24 October for the vote in plenary.
Evelyne Gebhardt also briefly discussed the informal meetings designed to reach compromises on the most controversial points of the legislative proposal, which are its scope and the principle of country of origin for the cross-border provision of services. The meeting of 12 September "lent her courage", showing "that it is possible to work to reach a consensus". After an informal meeting on 11 September, another informal meeting is to take place in Strasbourg at the end of September.