The Internal Market Commissioner, Mr Charlie McCreevy, has said he is willing to amend parts of the Services Directive, which aims to open up the EU market in services, to take account of the concerns of some member-states and MEPs.
Mr McCreevy said it was more important to secure agreement on some liberalisation of the services market than to preserve the ideological purity of the draft directive he inherited from his predecessor.
Some EU governments fear that opening up the market in services could force them to privatise public services, a move that could prove unpopular with voters.
Others are concerned that the directive's "country of origin" principle, which would allow companies to operate services throughout the EU on the basis of rules prevailing in their own country, could push down wages in more prosperous member-states.
Mr McCreevy hinted that the principle could be suspended in the case of particularly sensitive economic sectors.
Opening up the EU market in services is among the priorities identified in yesterday's review of the Lisbon Agenda, which aims to boost economic growth in Europe.
Mr McCreevy said that, although the Republic is performing better than most EU member-states, the State had an interest in improving growth throughout the European economy.
