Brussels, 19/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - The Competitiveness Council, meeting in Brussels on Monday adopted its contribution to the European Spring Council. Welcoming the Commission's annual report on progress on the renewed Lisbon Strategy (see EUROPE 9327), the Competitiveness Council agreed priority measures in five areas to enhance EU competitiveness: - Internal market. The Council called for the re-assessment of the single market to continue, including issues relating to the improvement of the free circulation of goods (see related article), the full transposition of the services directive and ongoing, liberalisation of the postal markets. Economy ministers also agreed the progressive reduction of the transposition deficit target from 1.5% to 1% by 2009 at the latest (see related article); - Better regulation. Economy ministers endorsed the Commission's proposal for a 25% reduction in the administrative burden resulting from Community legislation by 2012 and their agreement in principle for the setting by each member state of its own national target by 2008 at the latest (see related article); - R&D and innovation. In this section, the Competitiveness Council noted the initiatives for 2007 (proposals and launches for the most advanced of the joint technological initiatives, the European Technology Institute, the strategy on intellectual property rights and the communication on patents, the strategic plan for energy technologies, the European conference of standardisation on 27 March and follow-up work on the Commission's manual on public procurement and innovation); - Companies and SMEs. The Council stressed particularly improving the framework for the European automotive industry, improving the framework conditions for SME access to capital and improvement of SME access to public contracts; - External competitiveness. The Council called for the conclusion of the Doha Round, the rapid granting of negotiating mandates to the Commission for free-trade agreements with emerging rapidly growing markets and for enhancing protection against piracy and counterfeiting. (eh)