Brussels, 09/03/2009 (Agence Europe) - The Community Internal Market Information (IMI) system has been extended to the services directive, which is due to come into effect at the end of 2009, the European Commission announced at the end of February. Linking central administrations, local authorities and professional organisations from across the EU, this electronic network aims to improve information exchange between users and, so, decision-making as the directive is applied on the ground. For example, a registered Hungarian authority could use the IMI system to inform the Italian authority of the approvals granted an Italian company to provide services temporarily in Hungary. The race against time is on: member states are presently concentrating their efforts on a few services (construction, catering, real estate), but it will have to be possible for information to be exchanged by means of the IMI system on all services covered by the services directive by the end of 2009. Conducting a regular assessment of the transposition of the services directive, Eurochambres, the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry, is concerned at the differences in the efforts member states are making in setting up one-stop shops to which companies can go when offering cross-border services. The association highlights the importance of making cross-border exchanges of information interoperable between these one-stop shops. (M.B./transl.rt)