EU: EU commissioner Charlie McCreevy said yesterday he would redraft the services directive by the end of April and was now cautiously optimistic that it would become law.
Mr McCreevy said the vote in favour of a compromise proposal by MEPs in the European Parliament yesterday was a good step forward for the controversial directive, which proposes to liberalise the EU services market.
He warned that there were challenges to be overcome given that the proposed directive still needed the support of EU member states to enter into force.
"This is a major step forward and a major fence crossed. There is now a good chance of seeing a directive," said Mr McCreevy, who is responsible for the internal markets portfolio within the commission.
"It also sends a signal to the ministers in the member states that the European Parliament has been able to come together. But I don't want to be overly optimistic about what member states may do."
The parliament voted by a majority of 179 in favour of a compromise package of amendments to the original services directive that was published by the former internal markets commissioner Frits Bolkestein.
The amendments were agreed by a coalition of the two biggest political groups in the parliament, the EPP-ED and the Socialist group.
They remove the controversial "country of origin" clause contained in the original directive and could also exclude a range of public and private services from the scope of any final directive that can be agreed by states.
Under the EU legislative process directives must pass through several stages before they become law. First the commission must propose legislation. This draft directive can then be amended by MEPs at a first reading in parliament.
The new text then passes back to the commission for redrafting, a process undertaken in consultation with all EU member states.
If no changes are made to the text of the parliament's amended proposal then the directive can be adopted by states at council.
But Mr McCreevy said yesterday he had promised parliament that if it found a broad agreement on amendments he would accommodate these. But he also signalled that he would have to make changes to the amended text of the directive.
For example, he highlighted contradictions in certain amendments passed by MEPs, particularly in the field of private healthcare. He also said that there was still debate on which services of general economic interest would be excluded from the directive.
Following Mr McCreevy's redraft, member states will have to agree on the text, a process that is still fraught with difficulty.
France, which blamed the services directive for the rejection of the EU constitution last year, will be concerned if it views the directive as too liberal.
Meanwhile, states such as Poland and Britain will be concerned if they think it does not go far enough to open markets.
If the directive passes the EU legislative process, member states must then adapt their own national laws to reflect the directive.