Brussels, 12/07/06 (Agence Europe) - The vote on the own-initiative report by German Social Democrat Alexander Rapkay on the White Paper on services of general interest (SGI), which should have been held on 12 July in the Parliamentary committee on economic and monetary affairs, has been postponed until early September. The aim of the MEPs is to vote as quickly as possible, so that the EP can return its opinion before the end of September. A specific Commission communication is anticipated for the autumn.
Negotiations are underway between the three main political formations of the European Parliament, to wit the EPP/ED, PES and ALDE groups, with a view to drafting compromise amendments. The negotiators are very close to an agreement on the main elements of the report, such as the need to guarantee legal security to the competent authorities of the Member States with responsibility for providing the SGI, according to one observer. The negotiators also need more time to take account of the opinions of eight Parliamentary committees which have submitted their reports. On this dossier, collaboration between the "chef de file" Parliamentary committee and the committee on the internal market is said to have been "stepped up".