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The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) has already been in place since 1995. This Agreement is limited to the international provision of certain services. However, a follow-on agreement is now planning a further international liberalisation of the services sector. This week, the European Parliament has come out in favour of starting negotiations on the so-called Plurilateral Services Agreement. However, according to MEPs, sensible services sectors such as water supply, health services or public education shall be excluded. The Parliament text does not include any mandatory social standards.
The Chamber of Labour and many non-governmental organisations have been criticising plans to start negotiations on the liberalisation of services at plurilateral level right from the start. Plurilateral means that many countries all over the world shall participate in this Agreement. Many criticise the non-transparency of talks concerning the new Agreement as well as a lack of studies in respect of the consequences of such an agreement. Apart from that, there is absolutely no mention of mandatory social standards and regulations in respect of remuneration. At least, the European Parliament has demanded that sensible services sectors are excluded from the negotiations. The danger that the national and communal autonomy might be undermined is not addressed in the resolution of the Parliament.

A resolution text brought in by the Greens, which generally rejects the plans on the Plurilateral Services Agreement, did not find a majority in the European Parliament. How long the discussions on the Agreement themselves will take is still completely open.

AK EUROPA Position on the Plurilateral Services Agreement