Brussels, 08/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament supports the negotiation of an international agreement on services between 21 WTO countries - which would circumvent the Doha round gridlock.
In a resolution adopted on 4 July by 526 votes in favour, 111 against and 3 abstentions, the European Parliament gave its support to the negotiation of a plurilateral agreement on trade in services between 21 member countries of the WTO - Australia, Canada, Chili, Colombia, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, the USA and the EU - and ultimately also open to other member countries.
MEPs, who will have to ratify the agreement, say that they expect stricter regulatory discipline on transparency, licensing requirements, public procurement and subsidies, as well as gains for the EU in the tourism, ICT and construction sectors. In addition, the Parliament supports the defence of sensitive European areas in public services and services of general interest, and it stresses the role of public services in the area of education, training and employment. Lastly, the Parliament advocates a high level of data protection and the involvement of stakeholders.
Together, the first 21 countries participating in the negotiations represent over two thirds of global trade in services. The negotiations will cover all services sectors - including ICT, logistics and transport services, financial services and services for companies. Nevertheless, the objective of the future agreement goes beyond just the opening of services markets - the idea being to develop new rules on trade in services, like those applying to public procurement, procedures for granting licences and access to communication networks. (EH/transl.fl)