News
BackThe outcry of the civil society about the attempt of the European Commission to liberalise water supply has hardly died away; the resistance against the Free Trade Agreement between the EU and the USA (“Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership” or TTIP in short) is growing. However, the European Commission seems to ignore all of it and negotiates on another agreement to liberalise public services (“Trade in Services Agreement” or TiSA in short) with 21 other countries (among them USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, Turkey, all of them Member States of the WTO (World Trade Organization).
The so-called “TiSA”, the new Free Trade Agreement for Services, puts in particular essential services of general interest such as education, health and social services, waste water and refuse collection, energy, transport or water supply at stake. Apart from that, a current study by “Public Services International” provides an insight as to how the negotiations are almost solely oriented towards offensive business interests. At present, the standards on trade in services are regulated in the WTO Service Agreement GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services). As early as 2000, an attempt was made to intensify the GATS and to achieve a comprehensive breakthrough for the liberalisation of the service markets. This attempt provoked massive criticism from AK, trade unions, NGOs and civil society (Stop GATS protests). The vehement demand by all: the exemption of public services from the scope of the Free Trade Agreement.
Broad stagnation of GATS negotiations leads to new ways of the economic lobby
The EU and 21 Member States of the WTO, which call themselves “Really Good Friends of Services”, do no longer want to wait for a breakthrough within the framework of the GATS, but try to bypass the existing resistance in form of a new agreement - TiSA. In spite of widespread criticism of the plans to start negotiations on the liberalisation of services at plurilateral level, the TiSA negotiations went in to the next round on 28 April - behind closed doors and whilst the attention of the public is focussed on TTIP and ISDS. Intransparency, bypassing of multilateral agreements and in particular tighter regulations for the liberalisation of the service sector are characteristic for the TISA project. For example, in future, instead of the current standard “positive list approach” (everything is liberalised unless explicitly stated in an exception list), a “negative list approach” (“list it or lose it” - everything that is not exempt will be fully liberalised) shall be applied to important sectors of the Agreement. In certain sectors, States shall be able to retain the status of liberalisation; however, it is not possible to increase their regulation (“Standstill Clause”). Apart from that, liberalisation obligations shall not only be made irreversible but shall also be stipulated on an ongoing basis (“Ratchet Clause”). This drastic loss of democratic scope for action threatens in particular also public services.
The AK demands a fundamental course of action regarding EU trade policy. The mandatory embed-ding of social standards, the guarantee of adhering to labour rights and the exemption of public services from the scope of the Free Trade Agreement must not be disputed. Any negotiations on the liberalisation of public services must be stopped.
More information on this subject:
AK EUROPA Position on the Plurilateral Services Agreement
Public Services International (PSI) Study
Dokumentation des ETUC-EPSU-AK Europa-ÖGB Europabüro Seminars zu FTAs und öffentlichen Dienstleistungen
AK Infobrief „GATS reloaded“, Seite 25ff (only in German)
Broad stagnation of GATS negotiations leads to new ways of the economic lobby
The EU and 21 Member States of the WTO, which call themselves “Really Good Friends of Services”, do no longer want to wait for a breakthrough within the framework of the GATS, but try to bypass the existing resistance in form of a new agreement - TiSA. In spite of widespread criticism of the plans to start negotiations on the liberalisation of services at plurilateral level, the TiSA negotiations went in to the next round on 28 April - behind closed doors and whilst the attention of the public is focussed on TTIP and ISDS. Intransparency, bypassing of multilateral agreements and in particular tighter regulations for the liberalisation of the service sector are characteristic for the TISA project. For example, in future, instead of the current standard “positive list approach” (everything is liberalised unless explicitly stated in an exception list), a “negative list approach” (“list it or lose it” - everything that is not exempt will be fully liberalised) shall be applied to important sectors of the Agreement. In certain sectors, States shall be able to retain the status of liberalisation; however, it is not possible to increase their regulation (“Standstill Clause”). Apart from that, liberalisation obligations shall not only be made irreversible but shall also be stipulated on an ongoing basis (“Ratchet Clause”). This drastic loss of democratic scope for action threatens in particular also public services.
The AK demands a fundamental course of action regarding EU trade policy. The mandatory embed-ding of social standards, the guarantee of adhering to labour rights and the exemption of public services from the scope of the Free Trade Agreement must not be disputed. Any negotiations on the liberalisation of public services must be stopped.
More information on this subject:
AK EUROPA Position on the Plurilateral Services Agreement
Public Services International (PSI) Study
Dokumentation des ETUC-EPSU-AK Europa-ÖGB Europabüro Seminars zu FTAs und öffentlichen Dienstleistungen
AK Infobrief „GATS reloaded“, Seite 25ff (only in German)