Brussels, 23/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - During a meeting in Brussels on Friday 20 March, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström and US Trade Representative Michael Froman reasserted the commitment of the EU and US to protecting public services in the trade agreements negotiated by the two economies. Their joint approach, enshrined in a joint statement, holds as much for their future bilateral free trade agreement (TTIP) as for the future international agreement on trade in services (TiSA), Malmström and Froman state.
“EU and US trade agreements do not prevent governments, at any level, from providing or supporting services in areas such as water, education, health, and social services (…) No EU or US agreement requires governments to privatise any service, or prevents governments from expanding the range of services they supply to the public. Moreover, these agreements do not prevent governments from providing public services previously supplied by private service suppliers; contracting a public service to private providers does not mean that it becomes irreversibly part of the commercial sector”, the joint statement says.
Malmström and Froman also noted “the important complementary role” of the private sector in these areas. “Private sector activities can improve the availability and diversity of services, to the benefit of people in the United States and European Union. Defining the appropriate balance between public and private services is up to the discretion of each government”, the statement says.
In addition, both parties confirmed that the EU and US trade agreements do not impede governments' ability to adopt or maintain regulations to ensure the high quality of services and to protect important public interest objectives, such as protection of health, safety or the environment. (Emmanuel Hagry)