16/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European trade unions are pleased with the vote on the Gebhardt report relating to services in the internal market (see other article). Industrial and employers' federations are not. John Monks, ETUC General Secretary, states in a press release that the compromise reached allows the European Social Model to be safeguarded, “even if there are still some improvements to be made” (The European Trade Union Confederation, ETUC, announces that it “remains mobilised with a view to consolidating this firm progress and achieving further improvements”). UNICE, the Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe, says “the only positive achievement left in the directive concerns freedom of establishment” when too many sectors are excluded and there is “great legal uncertainty for both companies and customers”. Its president, Ernest-Antoine Seillière, warns: “It remains the duty of the Commission to secure a real internal market for services. (…) 600,000 to 800,000 new jobs are at stake”.