28/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - Former MEP Philippe Herzog commented on the vote on the Rapkay report on the Commission's White Paper on services of general interest (see EUROPE 9274) that, after hearing Commission President Barroso announce in the plenary session a communication on SGI for the end of the year, that the Commission had to be held to its word. To have legal clarity, there had to be “one or more legislative acts to establish compatibility between societies' choices and single market and competition rules,” stressed the former EP rapporteur on this issue. Carola Fischbach-Pytell, General Secretary of the European Federation of Public Service Unions, said in a press release, “For the third time in five years the European Parliament has asked the Commission to make a concrete proposal. The EP has shown that it is in tune with citizens' needs. The pressure is now on the Commission to stop stalling”. The Federation has pledged to continue its EU-wide campaign “Quality public services - quality of life”, calling for a legal framework for public services.