. /. RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/REG138/M/2 
6 January 2004 
 (04-0014) 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements 
Thirty-Fifth Session  
 
 
 
EXAMINATION OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA, SERVICES 
 
Note on the Meeting of 2 December 2003  
 
Chairman: Mr. J. Meetoo (Mauritius) 
  
1. The meeting was convened in document WTO/AIR/2217/Rev.1. 
2. Under Agenda Item D.III of its Thirty-Fifth Session, the Committee on Regional Trade 
Agreements (hereinafter CRTA or the Committee) took up the second round of examination of the 
services aspects of the European Economic Area (EEA).   
3. The following topics were discussed: 
 A. Section I – General Provisions of the Agreement 
 B. Section II – Trade Provisions  4. The Chairman
 noted that this was the second round of examination of the EEA, Services.  
The proceedings of the first round, which took place in November 2002, could be found in document 
WT/REG138/M/1.  Since then, the Parties had provi ded replies to questions posed by delegations, 
which had been circulated in document WT/REG138/3. 
A. G ENERAL PROVISIONS OF THE AGREEMENT  
5. The representative of the United States , while noting that her delegation might have some 
follow-up questions, requested the Parties to clar ify how this Agreement related to the services 
provisions of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in terms of scope.  She also asked how 
this Agreement would evolve with the forthcomi ng enlargement of the European Communities (EC) 
from 15 to 25 member States.  
B. TRADE PROVISIONS  
6. The representative of Japan  referred to the replies under Sub-section II.1 of WT/REG138/3, 
where it was stated that the EEA had a general prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of 
nationality in Article 4 and exempti ons on grounds of public policy, security or health.  Noting that 
the services provisions of the EFTA – which had in its membership some countries also members of 
the EEA - provided an Annex that included exemp tions, she sought clarification whether no such 
reservations existed in the EEA. 
7. The representative of the European Communities  indicated that replies to both queries would 
be submitted in writing following the receipt of wr itten questions.  Regarding the forthcoming EC 
enlargement, her delegation did not foresee a direct impact on the other partners of the Agreement. WT/REG138/M/2 
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8. Referring to Articles 112-114 of the Agreement, the representative of Malaysia
 requested the 
Parties to provide an explanation on the kind of safeguard measures they had in mind, in particular 
whether the Agreement provided for some type of disr uption in terms of injury and threat of injury.  
He noted that similar provisions existed in the services provisions of the EFTA.  He also asked 
whether these safeguard measures could actually be  applied since they were provided for in the 
Agreement.  Replying to this question, the representative of the European Communities  indicated that 
safeguard measures had not yet been applied under an y of the measures mentioned by Malaysia.  In 
relation to safeguard measures due to balance-o f-payments difficulties, Article XII of the GATS 
clearly provided for this situation but ag ain this situation had not so far arisen. 
9. The Chairman  stated that the second round of examin ation of the European Economic Area, 
Services had allowed the Committee to clarify some issues, but some remained pending.  He asked 
delegations to submit questions to the Secretaria t by 31 January 2004 and for the Parties to submit 
replies in writing no later than 31 March 2004.  Th e next round of examination would be scheduled 
for a forthcoming meeting. 
10. The Committee took note  of the comments made. 
 
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