Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on "The impact on local and regional authorities of the negotiations on the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) at the WTO"
Date: 2003-07-03
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: GATS, World Trade Organisation, provision of services, public service

24.10.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 256/83

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘The impact on local and regional authorities of the
negotiations on the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) at the WTO’

(2003/C 256/14)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the decision of its Bureau of 8 April 2003, under the fifth paragraph of Article 265 of
the Treaty establishing the European Community, to instruct the Commission for External Relations to
draw up the Opinion on the impact on local and regional authorities of the negotiations on the General
Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) at the WTO;

having regard to the Agreement establishing the WTO and the General Agreement on Trade in Services
(GATS) in 1994 (1);

having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament
on the EU approach to the WTO Millennium Round (COM(1999) 331 final);

the European Parliament containing the European Parliament’s
having regard to the report of
recommendations to the Commission on the negotiations conducted within the WTO framework on the
Built-In Agenda (2028/2001 (INI), A5-0076/2001 of 28 February 2001);

having regard to its opinion on the negotiating position on agriculture for the next WTO round
(CdR 327/1999 fin) (2);

having regard to the Assembly of European Regions’ resolution of 18 October 2002 on GATS and
cultural diversity;

having regard to the Doha development agenda adopted on 14 November 2001 for a new global round
of trade agreements;

having regard to the European Parliament resolution on negotiations on the General Agreement on Trade
in Services (GATS) at the WTO, including cultural diversity (PE T5-0087/2003 of 12 March 2003);

having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions of 9 April 2003 on the negotiation
position on agriculture for the next WTO round (CdR 181/2002 fin);

having regard to the draft opinion (CdR 103/2003 rev) adopted by the Commission for External Relations
on 23 May 2003 (rapporteur: Mr Axel Endlein, Chairman of the German Association of District Councils
(DE-PES)),

unanimously adopted the following opinion at its 50th plenary session, held on 2 and 3 July 2003
(meeting of 3 July).

1. The Committee of the Regions’ views

regional and local authorities, which are responsible for
providing services on a wide scale;

General comments

The Committee of the Regions

notes that the GATS negotiations are extremely signifi-
1.1.
cant from a regional and local viewpoint due to both regional
economic concerns (interests of companies located in the area
in easier access to markets outside the EU) and the concerns of

(1) OJ L 336, 23.12.1994, p. 3.
(2) OJ L 317, 6.11.2000, p. 12.

1.2.
remarks that the following recommendations are pri-
marily addressed to the Commission, which is conducting the
WTO negotiations. Furthermore,
it urges the EU’s regions
and municipalities, as well as the national and European
to participate fully in the
associations representing them,
discussion on the international liberalisation of services;

considers it imperative to monitor the developments
1.3.
of the WTO negotiations constantly and to evaluate the results
of the negotiations critically; asks that the current WTO

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Official Journal of the European Union

24.10.2003

negotiations be made public and calls for further European
debate on the GATS with the full involvement of local and
regional authorities and the communities they represent;

1.9.
emphatically supports the Commission’s opinion that
no offers of liberalisation are to be submitted regarding health,
education and audiovisual media. This position is to be
maintained throughout the entire GATS negotiations;

notes in this connection that public services, to which
1.4.
European citizens are entitled, particularly as regards education
and culture, have developed from regional and local authorities’
own concepts of their tasks and duties vis-à-vis their citizens
and that
the continued existence of democratic control,
continuity accessibility and quality must therefore be guaran-
teed;

points out

1.5.
that mutual accessibility to markets is
unfeasible for companies administered by regional or local
authorities due to their ties with their own areas, and that this
fact should be taken into consideration during the WTO
negotiations;

Substantive comments

notes that the right for authorities at all

1.6.
levels to
provide public services either themselves or through their own
companies cannot be infringed. In this context it would refer
to the WTO rules, which state that liberalisation measures are
not grounds for compulsory privatisation or deregulation. The
same is true for the definition of the conditions governing the
provision of services, which should remain the preserve of
regional and local authorities in their entirety, taking into
account these authorities’ objectives and the local circum-
stances of each state;

1.7.
endorses the offer made by the Commission in the
negotiations; but does not entirely agree with the competent
DG’s opinion that the public sector is not affected. Instead, it
points out that local and regional authorities are likely to
experience direct and indirect consequences on administration
and financing — particularly as regards services of general
interest and asks that no binding commitment be entered into
under GATS until an independent evaluation has been carried
into the economic, social and environmental conse-
out
quences;

1.8.
endorses the inclusion of environmental services in
principle, but considers that these need to be defined individu-
ally, and emphatically supports the Commission’s position
exempting water management and distribution. Steps must
also be taken to ensure that prior investments by regional and
local authorities in environmental protection and hygiene
measures do not lose their economic value;

1.10.
calls for the non-inclusion of culture. In particular,
the Commission’s offer in the negotiations with regard to
entertainment services should not be interpreted as including
the whole cultural field;

1.11.
calls emphatically for the protection of intellectual
property and points out that this is a particularly difficult area
to regulate;

1.12.
expresses concern about the negotiations on Dom-
estic Regulatory Disciplines under Article VI.4 of GATS under
which regulations may be deemed ‘unnecessary barriers to
trade’ through the WTO’s dispute resolution procedure on the
grounds that they are ‘more burdensome than necessary to
ensure the quality of the service’ and fail to meet the criterion
of ‘least trade restrictive’. In effect, the WTO, through its
dispute resolution panels may classify regulations decreed by
democratically elected government at all levels, in pursuit of
the protection of the general public and the environment, as
illegitimate ‘non-tariff
is also
important that regulations should not be used as a cover for
restricting competition or denying access to markets by
specifying unreasonable conditions.

trade barriers’. However it

2. The Committee of the Regions’ recommendations

The Committee of the Regions

urges the Commission, as a partner in the WTO

2.1.
negotiations, to consider the following issues:

— to bear in mind that liberalisation is not a goal

in
itself but a means to increased prosperity, and that
liberalisation is accordingly not one-dimensional, but is
to be developed with due regard to the whole social,
economic and institutional environment;

— to consider the principles of regional and local self-
government in the WTO negotiations, in accordance with
the provisions of Article 6 of the EU Treaty and the
Convention’s proposals to clarify them in the future
Constitution;

— not to make offers in fields which are not liberalised in

the EU;

— not to take a position in the WTO negotiations which is
prejudiced by the ongoing EU negotiations regarding EU
legislation on services of general interest;

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 256/85

— to ensure that WTO principles, particularly the voluntary
nature of action and the lack of any obligation to
privatise or deregulate, are put up for discussion during
negotiations and implementation as a result of being
disregarded in dispute settlement procedures;

— to ensure that laws and statutes decreed by regional and
local authorities cannot be classified as ‘non-tariff trade
barriers’;

— to ensure that the ultimate reason for foreign investors’

activities is not to obtain aid;

2.2.
stresses the need to maintain the principle of universal
service provision in public services and services of general
interest;

supports

2.3.
exchanges of skilled labour;

the Commission’s

intention to facilitate

Brussels, 3 July 2003.

Involving regions, municipalities and the CoR in information and
coordination activities within the EU

notes that

2.4.
the regions and municipalities are the
principal providers of public services and that therefore they
and the CoR should be involved in an appropriate manner in
coordination activities within the EU;

2.5.
welcomes the Commission’s efforts to improve trans-
parency and include interest groups from all relevant service
sectors, civil society and the various socio-economic groups.
However, it considers that regional and local authorities cannot
be included in this category, as they cover the full range of
public services and in fact created the public service sector as
part of their remit within the democratic process;

would urge as a result of the inclusion of services in
2.6.
international liberalisation that provision be made for obliga-
tory CoR participation in the future constitution’s commercial
policy title.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Albert BORE

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘Proposal for a decision of the European
Parliament and of the Council establishing a second phase of a programme of Community action
(2004-2008) to prevent violence against children, young people and women and to protect
victims and groups at-risk (the Daphné II programme)’

(2003/C 256/15)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

having regard to the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a
second phase of a programme of Community action (2004-2008) to prevent violence against children,
young people and women and to protect victims and groups at-risk (the Daphné II programme),
(COM(2003) 54 final — 2003/0025 (COD));

having regard to the Council Decision of 4 March 2003 to consult it on this subject, under the first
paragraph of Article 265 and Article 152 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

having regard to the decision of its President on 23 January 2003 instructing the Commission for
Constitutional Affairs and European Governance to draw up an opinion on the subject;