. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONS/CSS/W/32
22 December 2000
(00-5624)
Council for Trade in Services
Special SessionOriginal:  English
COMMUNICATION FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
AND THEIR MEMBER STATES1/2
GATS 2000:  Sector Proposals
The attached communication has been received from the delegation of the European
Communities and their Member States with the request that it be circulated to Members of the
Council for Trade in Services.
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I. INTRODUCTION
1. Paragraph 2(b) of the “Roadmap” adopted by the Council for Trade in Services on
26 May 2000 provided, without prejudice to the elabor ation of negotiating guidelines and procedures,
that in the first phase of the mandated negotiations on services proposals would be submitted byMembers by the end of December 2000, on the understanding that there would be flexibility for the
submission of further or more detailed proposals thereafter.
2. In this spirit, the EC and their Member States propose discussion in the Council of this
document and of each of the documents listed below relating to sectors which are seen as important
and on which views on the scope of negotiations are offered and sought:
− Professional services (S/CSS/W/33)
− Business services (other than professional services) (S/CSS/W/34)
− Telecommunications (S/CSS/W/35)
− Construction and related engineering services (S/CSS/W/36)
− Distribution (S/CSS/W/37)
− Environmental services (S/CSS/W/38)
− Financial services (banking, insurance, securities, other) (S/CSS/W/39)
− Tourism (S/CSS/W/40)
− Transport (air, maritime, land, other) (S/CSS/W/41)
3. We make this submission now in the hope that, along with any other proposals from other
WTO Members, it will provide a focus for Members at the stock-taking session in March 2001 and
help structure the second phase of the mandated negotiations. In addition, given the existence of
regulatory barriers which significantly detract from the opening of markets, we should like to stress
                                                     
1 Hereinafter "The EC".
2 The EC reserve their right to modify this proposal at any time. This proposal does not prejudge EC's
position on other services sectors, nor any possible future offer on this or other sectors. This proposal has to be
read together with the general approach of the EC to the services negotiations.S/CSS/W/32
Page 2
the considerable importance of the work being undertaken in the Working Party on Domestic
Regulation.
4. These first proposals should be seen as work in progress. We reserve our right to modify our
proposals as appropriate and to table new proposals in these or any other sectors at any time, notably
on energy and postal services.
5. The EC and their Member States are ready to discuss or clarify any element of the proposal.
We also encourage all WTO Members similarly to submit proposals before the stock-taking session in
March 2001.
6. Trade, environmental and social policies play a mutually supportive role in favour of
sustainable development. It is our view that open trade and investment in services can contribute to
the achievement of national sustainable development objectives in all fields of national policy
making. In this context, transitional periods for the implementation of market openings may beconsidered on a case-by-case basis with particular attention to least developed countries.
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