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EU line on GATS shows up UK
CRIS Info is a public list for information and questions about the campaign for Communication Rights in the Information Society (CRIS): http://www.crisinfo.org CRIS also has a Latin American regional list at: http://comunica.org/mailman/listinfo/crisal_comunica.org
Below is the recent European Parliament resolution on GATS. Note point 6 in particular, also points 12, 13 and 14. The UK Comms Bill position on non-EU ownership (para 340) directly undermines the agreed EU common position on GATS and puts the UK firmly in line with the US in advance of the September GATS round where this will most likely be again fiercely debated.
Deja vu? European Parliament resolution on the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) within the WTO, including cultural diversity. 12 March 2003 The European Parliament, - having regard to the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference Declaration, adopted on 14 November 2001 in Doha, - having regard to its resolution of 18 November 1999 on the Commission's communication to the Council and the European Parliament on the EU's approach to the WTO Millennium Round(1), - having regard to its resolution of 25 October 2001 on the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference(2), - having regard to its resolution of 25 October 2001 on openness and democracy in international trade(3), - having regard to Article 22 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which states that 'the Union shall respect cultural, religious and linguistic diversity', - having regard to the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, which stresses 'the specificity of cultural goods and services which, as vectors of identity, values and meaning, must not be treated as mere commodities or consumer goods' (Article 8) and states that 'market forces alone cannot guarantee the preservation and promotion of cultural diversity, which is the key to sustainable human development' (Article 11), A. whereas the EU is the world leader in the services sector, due, in part, to its openness to competition; and whereas open service markets can, in principle, be advantageous for all countries, as they lower prices for consumers and business, B. whereas the services sector is extremely diverse, ranging from health and education to retailing and financial services, C. whereas the WTO Doha Round is to focus on a development agenda, and concrete results must therefore be achieved in order to convince the poorest nations that the success of the WTO is critical to the economies of all countries, both rich and poor, D. whereas, however, the GATS agreement has given rise to widespread concern regarding lack of transparency in the negotiating process and in relation to its possible impact on public services and the regulation of services in general, Political scrutiny and transparency 1. Recalls that the liberalisation of services is a matter of great public debate and that the offer must therefore be subject to effective parliamentary scrutiny; consequently, welcomes the efforts made by the Commission to provide some Members of the European Parliament with the GATS EU offers; calls, however, for further transparency, including full access to EU negotiating documents for all Members of the European Parliament, subject to the European Parliament's rules on confidentiality; 2. Welcomes the efforts made by the Commission to improve transparency and to involve interest groups from all relevant service sectors, including social partners, as well as civil society groups, but believes that further improvements are essential, making available the extensive information on the EU requests and offers, so as to allow for an informed public debate before any offer is made to the WTO; calls on the Commission to suggest to the WTO that requests and offers by all Member States should be made public; The EU offer 3. Welcomes the Commission's initial offer on GATS as an important part of the Doha negotiations and a positive signal to the WTO members that the EU is open to businesses and supports a non-discriminatory, regulated system; supports the commitments to enhance market access for EU service providers by reducing or eliminating barriers to trade in services; 4. Recalls that the negotiations on trade in services are to be conducted with a view to promoting the economic growth of all trading partners and the development of the developing and least developed countries, and that the GATS negotiations should be measured against this overriding goal; 5. Recalls that the GATS is a voluntary agreement and that its principles do not impose either privatisation or deregulation, nor do they prescribe a particular degree of liberalisation, as such; insists, however, that developing and least developed countries should not be pressured to liberalise services, in particular public services; 6. Welcomes, in addition, the Commission's announcement that no offers of liberalisation are proposed in the health, education and audiovisual sectors, and calls on the Commission to maintain this position throughout the GATS negotiations and to ensure that no circumvention of this right can take place; 7. Supports the right of each WTO member to regulate public services and services of general interest, and to uphold the principle of universal service obligations; wishes to see a clarification of the right to regulate, with a view to ensuring that it cannot be undermined by the application of trade-related criteria such as the necessity test or the requirement to be as 'least trade-restrictive' as possible; 8. Supports a further opening up of markets in the financial services and telecom sector, and in other areas such as computer services, professional services, business services, construction and engineering, distribution, tourism and maritime transport; believes that the European experience shows that the abolition of monopolistic structures can lead to more customer-oriented services at a reduced price, whilst at the same time creating skilled employment; 9. Supports the inclusion of environmental services insofar as they are classified in the proposal; at the same time, agrees to exclude access to, and management of, water resources, as well as the allocation thereof; 10. Welcomes the offer to grant developing countries, in particular, better opportunities to supply services to the EU market through temporary cross-border movement of qualified personnel, but insists that negotiations must ensure protection of cross-border workers against all forms of discrimination; recalls that in all these cases, EU and national working conditions, minimum wage requirements and any collective wage agreements must continue to apply, regardless of whether or not the employer is registered within the EU; 11. Stresses that 'commercial presence' (investment) must continue to be governed by domestic tax, social and other regulatory measures; insists on the right to make foreign commercial presence conditional on respect for the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy and the revised OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; Cultural services 12. Stresses the importance of cultural diversity, the need to respect national and regional diversity and to bring the common cultural heritage to the fore; each Member State should have the legal flexibility to take all necessary measures in the areas of cultural and audiovisual policy so as to preserve and promote cultural diversity; 13. Recalls that cultural services are not to be compared to most other services and are therefore treated differently in existing agreements; recognises the European audiovisual sector's special role in sustaining cultural pluralism, economic performance and freedom of expression; reaffirms its commitment to the freedom of action in the sphere of audiovisual policy obtained at the Uruguay Round; takes the view that the GATS rules on cultural services, in particular in the audiovisual sector, should not jeopardise the cultural diversity and autonomy of the WTO contracting parties; 14. Supports the Commission in maintaining the possibility for the Community, its Member States and its regions to preserve and develop their capacity to define and implement policies in the cultural and audiovisual sectors, in order to preserve their cultural diversity; Impact on developing countries 15. Recognises that the ability of some developing and least developed countries to regulate service sectors which were previously under public control or ownership may be limited or non-existent, and calls on the Commission to act sensitively in areas in which the developing country concerned has genuine development-based objections; insists that certain service sectors, such as water and sanitation, have a special status in developing and least developed countries, as they have a direct and dramatic impact on people's daily lives, and therefore require special treatment; 16. Calls on the Commission to press, in conformity with Article XIX of the GATS, for a full assessment of trade in services in parallel with the Doha Development Agenda negotiations; 17. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments of the Member States and of the candidate countries. (1) OJ C 189, 7.7.2000, p.213. (2) OJ C 112 E, 9.5.2002, p.321. (3) OJ C 112 E, 9.5.2002, p. 326.LINKSwww.crisinfo.org
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Last modified: Monday, March 14, 2005
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