14/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - Former MEP Philippe Herzog, who was Parliament rapporteur for the GUE/NGL Group on the Green Paper concerning services of general interest, says in a press release regarding the vote on the “services directive” expected Thursday: “Supposing that the Gebhardt-Harbour compromise (…) is endorsed, I would adopt this text if I had to vote on it. It allows the necessary openings to be made in the constitution of the internal services market by setting aside the principle of country of origin and leaving the door open for the development of joint regulatory principles”. According to Mr Herzog, the compromise between the EPP-ED and PES Groups would not only allow account to be taken of the dimension of general interest, that can be covered by national measures applied to services, but also lift protectionist barriers to the creation of a common services market (the absence of such a European market “creates a real loss in terms of growth and competitiveness which increases Europe's delay vis-à-vis global markets”, the former member of the national bureau of the French Communist party acknowledges). Noting that the European Trade Union Confederation is rightly fighting in order to reconcile the right of mobility for all Union workers (including those of the new Member Sates) with their social rights conform to European objectives of social welfare, Mr Herzog considers that two main fronts are covered: revision of the directive on posted workers to clarify the areas that are still grey, and the setting in place of European collective agreements.