Translate the following English sentence to French:
"The Council was able to agree its common position only because it felt that a directive, which included a waiver but tightened regulation and permitted competition in a single market, was better than no directive at all."
Le Conseil a pu adopter sa position commune uniquement parce qu'il pensait qu'une directive incluant une exemption, mais resserrant la réglementation et permettant la concurrence dans un marché unique, valait mieux que pas de directive du tout.