Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 7 • Number 4 • 6th February 2003
European Commission Presents Services Liberalisation Offer
On 5 February, EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy outlined the initial EU offer to trading partners for additional services liberalisation commitments.Lamy stated that the EU was willing to offer further market openings in areas such as banking and telecom, whereas it would not take new commitments in public services such as health and education as well as in audiovisual services. He further said that additional market access was negotiable in areas such as computer services, postal services, distribution, environmental services, tourism and transport.
Responding to demands by developing country trading partners, including India, to open up the EU market in mode four (movement of natural persons), Lamy said that the EU would allow professionals based overseas working e.g. in computer and engineering services to enter the EU market for up to six month. "This carefully constructed proposal will strengthen the EU’s position in the Doha negotiations because it addresses the interests of others, particularly developing countries," Lamy said. "At the same time it ensures that services of collective interests in the EU such as education and health are preserved," he added. On audiovisual — a sector that especially France wants to keep protected — the Commissioner ruled out any commitments whatsoever.
The Commission’s proposal will now be forwarded to the European Council and the Parliament for their consideration before it can be officially submitted to WTO trading partners prior to the agreed 31 March deadline. In the current request/offer phase in the services negotiations, WTO Members are to respond to requests for additional commitments received by trading partners by the end of March. In preparing the draft offer, the Commission has been holding public consultations in which a large group of European civil society groups have expressed their concerns that deregulated and privatised public services could negatively impact on the access to basic services such as health, education, water and energy (see BRIDGES Weekly, 23 April 2002).
In reaction to the EU announcement, European NGOs welcomed the Commission’s proposal, though some expressed disappointment over the fact that postal, retail, environmental and transport services will be further opened to foreign competition. A representative of the Third World Network demanded that the EU withdraw its requests to developing countries to liberalise these same services, noting that developing countries have far weaker services sectors than the EU countries, and are in even less of a position to make further liberalisation commitments.
"Market liberalisation: EC suggest financial services, telecom for possible liberalisation, excludes others," WTO REPORTER, 6 February 2003; "WTO services: Commission submits draft offer to Council and Parliament — public services fully defended," EU PRESS RELEASE, 5 February 2003; "EU likely to bar talks at Doha on four services," FT, 5 February 2003.