WRITTEN QUESTION E-3130/02

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(4 November 2002)

Subject: WTO negotiations on the General Agreement on Trade in Services

The Commission is at present engaged in negotiations within the World Trade Organisation on a General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), following on from the conclusions of the WTO ministerial meeting in Doha.

In this context, can the Commission answer the following questions:

1. What is the current state of play and what in the Commission's opinion are the prospects for the negotiations, especially as regards the aims to be achieved? What proposals to liberalise services has the Commission submitted to non-member countries, and what proposals have the latter submitted to the Union Member States?

2. Can the Commission give details (preferably classified according to sectors of activity) of the current position regarding the bi- or multilateral service liberalisation agreements already signed or being negotiated with non-member countries?

Answer given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(7 January 2003)

1. The Declaration adopted by Ministers at Doha calls as far as services is concerned for the submission of initial requests for specific commitments from other members by 30 June 2002 and for the presentation of initial offers to other Members by 31 March 2003. In accordance with this mandate the Community and its Member States submitted in early July 2002 initial requests to 109 other World Trade Organisation (WTO) Members. In return, the European Union (EU) has up to now received 22 initial requests from third countries (14 from developing countries and emerging economies) seeking further access to the Community services market. Other countries are at this point in time in various stages of preparing their initial requests and further requests are therefore expected to be submitted in the months to come.

The Commission, together with the Member States is still in the process of analysing the incoming requests. The Commission has published a comprehensive consultative document on the incoming requests with a view to seeking public input on how EU might respond to these in its initial offer. In the offer Members will inform trading partners of the improvements they are prepared to make in terms of market access and non-discriminatory treatment.

As far as multilateral talks on services are concerned the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), concluded during the Uruguay Round, and the services negotiations currently being pursued under the Doha Development Agenda cover a whole range of service sectors. As the world's leading exporter of services, the Union has a strong interest in further opening world markets to trade in services. For further details on the Community's requests the Honourable Member is referred to the Commission's answer to Written Question P-2621/02 by Mr Turco(1) and to the summary of the requests published on the Directorate General (DG) Trade's website (http://europa.eu.int/comm/trade/).

2. The Community has already signed a number of plurilateral or bilateral agreements with a large number of countries covering inter alia services, including the Agreement on the European Economic Area (with Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland), the so-called Europe Agreements with the 11 candidate countries, Stabilisation and Association Agreements with Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and Croatia, and agreements with Mexico and Chile (this latter officially signed on 18 November 2002). It should be noted that the agreement with Mexico calls for the parties to review steps towards further liberalisation before February 2004.

These agreements are not sector-specific, but essentially cover the same range of sectors as the GATS (except for audio-visual services) in order to meet the requirements of Article V GATS, which requires regional trade agreements to have substantial sectoral coverage, to cover all modes of delivering services and to provide for the absence or elimination of substantially all discrimination.

In addition, the Community is currently in the process of negotiating Free Trade Agreements with the Mercosur, the Golf Co-operation Council (GCC), Switzerland and Turkey.

Negotiations between the Union and Mercosur (comprising Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) began in June 2000 and aims at establishing a bi-regional trade and co-operation agreement. The trade component includes liberalisation of trade in goods and services between the Union and Mercosur in conformity with WTO rules for free-trade areas.

The 1989 Community-GCC Cooperation Agreement contained a commitment from both sides to enter into negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The Free Trade Agreement negotiations were initiated in 1990, but soon reached a standstill. In order to re-invigorate and conclude the pending negotiations the Commission prepared a completely new negotiating mandate which was adapted to include services and other areas included in more recent FTA's. The Council approved the new mandate in July 2001. After the approval of the new mandate the negotiations were resumed in March 2002 and are now underway.

Pursuant to a joint declaration adopted in 1999, the Community opened negotiations with Switzerland in July 2002 with a view to concluding a Free Trade Agreement on Services. The Commission's negotiating mandate provides for an agreement with broad sectoral scope and based on full extension of Community acquis to Switzerland including relevant flanking policies. The parties have held two rounds of talks with a view to clarify possible Swiss questions regarding the acquis and nature of the agreement to be concluded.

The Community-Turkey Association Council, by Decision No 2/2000(2), decided to open negotiations aimed at the liberalisation of services and the mutual opening of procurement markets between the Community and Turkey. The parties have held three rounds of talks.

Furthermore, in the context of the regional framework launched in November 1995 between the Union and its 12 Mediterranean partners (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Cyprus and Malta) to liberalise trade across the Euro-Mediterranean area. The Union has concluded Association Agreements with all its MED partners apart from Syria (negotiations are ongoing). All Association Agreements cover services trade insofar as they foresee future liberalisation of trade in services between the Union and its partners.

The Community has also concluded an Agreement with South Africa which liberalises trade in goods between the two parties, and foresees, in a similar way as with the MED countries, future liberalisation of trade in services.

More recently, on 17 June 2002, the Council reached a political agreement on negotiating directives for a Trade and Co-operation Agreement with Iran. The negotiation and conclusion of the agreement will help develop economic exchanges and co-operation with Iran, and contribute to the continuation of the process of political and economic reform. As far as services are concerned, the agreement will establish a framework for their progressive liberalisation.

Finally, the General Affairs Council on 21 October 2002 adopted a mandate for a future Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Albania. The opening of the negotiations will take place by the end of January 2003.

(1) OJ C 137 E, 12.6.2003, p. 99.

(2) OJ L 138, 9.6.2000.