Strasbourg, 10/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 10 March, the Council decided by common agreement to declassify the mandate given to the European Commission to negotiate an international agreement on trade in services (TiSA). The negotiating directives were made public the same day.
“The decision reflects a growing public interest for this plurilateral agreement”, the Council states in a press release. In a letter on 29 January, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström had asked the Council to publish the mandate granted to the Commission to negotiate the TiSA.
The Commission had already unveiled the EU's negotiating position in the TiSA negotiations in July 2014. The negotiations were started in 2013 on the sidelines of the WTO and 50 WTO member countries are stakeholders in them (including the 28 EU member states) - which represent over two thirds of global trade in services. There have so far been 11 rounds of negotiations.
The TiSA negotiations cover all service sectors - including ICT, logistics and transport services, and financial and business services - and they have the dual objective of opening up markets and developing new rules on trade in services (like those that are applied to government procurement, licensing procedures or access to communication networks). (Emmanuel Hagry)