Brussels, 15/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - Speaking at a dinner on the sidelines of the Competitiveness and Energy Council on Monday 13 March, Marten Bartenstein, Austrian Minister for Economy and Labour, said that, if a “powerful signal” is sent out by the European Summit in addition to the Commission's amended proposal on the directive relating to services in the internal market, then “we shall pull out all the stops to obtain political agreement” in Council. “Otherwise, it will be difficult”, he added. The president-in-office of the Competitiveness and Energy Council seemed resolved to use the impetus given by the European Parliament's opinion: “The EU cannot let this opportunity pass it by - we must seek to rally the new Member States” to the opinion (see EUROPE 9133), he said. He nonetheless hoped to place emphasis on quality rather than speed. Speaking on the reticence shown by eight new Member States of Central and Eastern Europe towards the EP's opinion (see EUROPE 9150), Martin Bartenstein pointed out that the publication of guidelines by the Commission early April on the implementation of Directive 96/71/EC regarding posted workers - and simultaneously the amended proposal of a services directive - is a very important initiative in the eyes of the new Member States. These guidelines should clarify what Member States can and cannot not do when it comes to the posting of workers, and also limit the possibilities of introducing restrictions to the free movement of workers. Would the new Member States be content with these guidelines with a view to opening up the road to a political agreement on the services directive? According to Mr Bartenstein, the guidelines are “not legally binding” and should be sufficiently ambitious to “meet the concerns of the new member States” but not too ambitious to “meet the objections of the trade unions”. Mr Bartenstein recalled how important it is for the Austrian EU Presidency to move forward with “the social partners” on this dossier. “The trade unions have rallied to the European Parliament's compromise”, he added, “the small and medium-sized enterprises also but not UNICE”. The European employers' association is in fact concerned about the fact that temporary work agencies could be excluded from the scope of the legislative proposal, as carried by the EP in first reading mid-February.